Mortgage refinance applications tumbled 19 percent last week as interest rates rose to their highest levels since July, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest weekly survey.
The drop in refinance demand marks the lowest level of refinance activity since May, which comes as the average contract rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 6.81 percent last week, the highest since July, according to the survey, released on Nov. 6.
Overall mortgage application volume fell by a seasonally adjusted 10.8 percent last week, marking the sixth consecutive week of declines. Purchase declined 5 percent to its lowest level since mid-August.
“Ten-year Treasury rates remain volatile and continue to put upward pressure on mortgage rates,” Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, said in a statement. Mortgage rates have been on an upswing since mid-September, following the trajectory of rising 10-year Treasury yields, which are closely correlated….