It wasn't enough for mortgage rates to fall last week to make a difference in consumer demand for home loans.
The volume of mortgage applications fell from the previous week. The demand is at its lowest level in a decade. In July, it hit a low.
The number of people applying for a mortgage to purchase a home dropped 1% for the week and were 18% lower than a year ago. With inflation in the economy and concern that home values will fall, potential home buyers are grappling with higher interest rates.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased to 5.45% last week from 5.85% the previous week, with points decreasing to 0.57 from 0.80 for loans with a 20% down payment. The rate was less than a year ago.
There aren't many borrowers who can benefit from a mortgage rate decrease.
New economic data on Wednesday could change that, as mortgage rates haven't moved much so far this week. The minutes from the Federal Reserve's last meeting will be released on Wednesday but investors will be more interested in the retail sales report.
If the report is stronger than expected, rates could move quickly before the Fed minutes come out at 2 p.m. Matthew Graham is the COO of Mortgage News Daily.
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