Rates Steadied Last Week, Sending Mortgage Application Volume Up

In the second-to-last week of February 2018, mortgage interest rates held steady and the number of mortgage applications increased 2.7 percent over the previous week.

Though interest rates ended the week unchanged, they have been rising since the beginning of 2018 and were deemed "volatile" last week by CNBC. Refinance home loans dropped 1 percent last week, and were down roughly 10 percent year-over-year. CNBC reports that refinancing is "quickly drying up amid higher interest rates, as fewer homeowners want to lose the low rates they may already have, even in return for pulling cash out of their homes in the refinance."

"Rates moved higher last week as the minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting indicated a positive view of the economy overall and firming inflation. Mortgage rates for three of the five loan types that we track in the survey increased over the week," said Joel Kan, an MBA economist. "The refinance share of all applications dropped to 41.8 percent, its lowest share since May 2017 as we move further into a purchase-dominated market."

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