US mortgage applications fall 0.4pc

(Sharecast News) - US mortgage applications dropped 0.4% in the week ended 14 August, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, cutting into the two-month high increase seen in the prior week. Applications to refinance a mortgage, which are generally more sensitive to week-to-week rate changes, rose by 1.5% week-on-week, while applications to purchase a home slipped 2%.

Last week's decline comes as the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was unchanged at 6.77% - four basis points shy of the one-year high recorded in late July.







Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com