Mortgage applications to buy a home in the US increase for the fourth week

Bloomberg — Mortgage applications for home purchases in the US increased for the fourth consecutive week, the largest streak of increases since March, helped by a further relaxation in borrowing costs.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s purchase application index rose 4.7% to a two-month high of 144.9 in the week ended Nov. 24. The contractual rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage fell four basis points, to 7.37%, the lowest since mid-September.

Although mortgage rates have dropped since approaching 8% about a month ago, borrowing costs remain at levels last seen in 2000. This is deterring many homeowners with much lower rates from moving. , which limits the number of offers and keeps housing prices high.

Meanwhile, refinancing activity suffered its biggest drop in six weeks, MBA data on Wednesday showed. This limited the increase in the overall MBA application rate to 0.3%.

The MBA survey, which has been conducted weekly since 1990, uses responses from mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The data covers more than 75% of all US retail residential mortgage applications.

Read more at Bloomberg.com