Rising Interest Rates, Home Prices Stifling Mortgage Demand

Mortgage application volume is falling as interest rates and home prices continue to rise. Fewer consumers have the incentive and ability to refinance or buy a home, CNBC reports.

With interest rates now considerably higher than they were a year ago, applications to refinance have nowhere to go but down ... Mortgage applications to purchase a home are still running well below historical averages and moved just 1 percent higher for the week. They are nearly 5 percent higher than a year ago, but home sales have been weakening for five of the past six months, indicating a slowdown in the overall housing market. That is due less to rising interest rates and more to a lack of homes for sale and higher prices.

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