Mortgage applications

Fading rates pushed home loan activity to its fourth consecutive week of gains.

Despite the latest pick-up in volume, stubbornly elevated interest rates led both the Mortgage Bankers Association and Fannie Mae to recently adjust 2024 and 2025 forecasts lower.

The median monthly payment amount for new purchases moved higher for the first time in six months, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Rejections for mortgage credit outpaced almost every other borrowing category, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra said the FICO credit-scoring model has drawbacks in price, predictiveness and market competition, and stakeholders should develop a more open-sourced model that uses artificial intelligence.

Both purchases and refinances came in higher, with government-backed lending providing momentum, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Applications broke a seven-week losing streak, but uneven rates muted any significant gains.

Refinance applications fell by almost 50% in the past four weeks, part of a greater slide since the last Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

Eighty percent of respondents say their current mortgage payment is putting a strain on their personal finances, per a Transunion survey.

The refinance boomlet is over, but purchase activity is straggling along.