US mortgage applications fall 0.3pc

(Sharecast News) - US mortgage applications fell 0.3% in the week ended 6 February, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, maintaining the 16.7% drop seem across the past two weeks. The decline comes despite a sustained drop in mortgage rates as markets continued to consider how the Federal National Mortgage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation will comply with Donald Trump's order to purchase $200bn in mortgage-backed securities.

Applications to purchase a new home dropped 2.4%, holding the 14% plunge seen in the previous week, while applications to refinance a mortgage, which are more sensitive to week-to-week changes in interest rates, ticked up 1.1%.





Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com