Mortgage rates

But the 30-year fixed remained in a tight range as investors digest mixed economic signals, including on inflation.

The National Association of Realtors' index of contract signings to purchase previously owned homes dropped 2.7% to 76.5 last month, according to data released Thursday.

Investors are piling into longer-dated notes on bets that policy makers will succeed in taming inflation, an outcome that will deliver strong and stable returns on debt.

The markets had a muted reaction to the Federal Open Market Committee pause on raising short-term rates a week ago, Freddie Mac found.

But the Mortgage Bankers Association also raised the dollar volume that it predicts the purchase market will originate this year.

"We will continue to make our decisions meeting by meeting, based on the totality of incoming data and their implications for the outlook for economic activity and inflation, as well as the balance of risks," he wrote in prepared remarks to be delivered to the House Financial Services Committee.

While home sales should remain constrained this year because of higher rates, growth in the entry-level market has far outpaced that for above-median income families.

The average for the 30-year fixed slipped 2 basis points in anticipation of the Federal Open Market Committee pausing short-term rate hikes, said Sam Khater, chief economist.

Monetary policy officials have finally gone a month without tightening but made it clear more action could lie ahead, suggesting it could be awhile before housing finance costs consistently fall.

But Zillow's rate tracker came in flat, while Optimal Blue's rose 10 basis points from its low last Thursday.

But activity is still very low, as just 1% of the market is in the position to refinance thanks to high interest rates, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said.

Worries about unknown future expenses and the state of their own finances are also causing anxiety for over 80% of U.S. consumers, according to new research from BMO.

A change in investor sentiment toward an expected pause by the Fed in short-term rate hikes was the driving force behind the current surge, Freddie Mac said.

It was the eighth consecutive quarterly decline of origination activity, according to a report published by Attom Data.

Investors are concerned that a deal will not be reached in Washington and a default will take place, driving up the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield.

Home purchasers had to come up with 0.9% more in April versus what they would have paid in March and 11.8% higher on a year-over-year basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

But the country is still likely heading towards a recession and it could be deeper than previously thought, Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said.

Jobs numbers, inflation data and the continued debate over raising the debt ceiling are factors applying upward pressure.

The company projects home buying costs could rise by a quarter in the next four months in the unlikely scenario.

The latest change continues the sideways pattern of recent weeks, a much better situation than last year's rapid increases, Freddie Mac said.