(Bloomberg) -- U.S. homeowners filed the most applications to refinance mortgages last week since mid-2016, as they rushed to take advantage of recent drops in rates.
The Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade group, said its gauge of applications for refinancing home loans rose 0.4% last week from the week before, reaching its highest level since July 2016. It was the fourth straight increase.
The advance came as rates for 30-year mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac fell to 3.9%, the lowest since November 2016. Amid rising fears of a possible slowdown in global economic growth, borrowing costs are broadly falling.
Falling rates may also be boosting home purchases. Sales of previously owned U.S. homes increased in July to a five-month high, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. The median sales price increased 4.3% to $280,800.
But applications for mortgages to buy homes fell 4% last week, which helped bring overall mortgage application volume down 0.9%, according to the MBA. Overall volume has risen about 70% since the end of last year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Caleb Mutua in New York at dmutua@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nikolaj Gammeltoft at ngammeltoft@bloomberg.net, Dan Wilchins, Boris Korby
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
Advertisement