Mortgage applications fall

U.S. mortgage applications are down for a third week, despite 30-year home borrowing costs at their lowest levels since April 2018.

The Mortgage Bankers Association says the adjusted index on mortgage activity fell 2.5% to 378.9 as of February 1. Three weeks earlier, it reached an 11-month high at 411.8. Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with loan balances of $484,350 or less averaged 4.69 percent, which was the lowest since mid-April of last year.

“Despite more favorable borrowing costs...(purchase applications) are now almost 2 percent lower than a year ago,” Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of industry surveys and forecasts said in a statement. “However, moderating price gains and the strong job market, including evidence of faster wage growth, should help purchase growth going forward,” Kan said.