Highlights
The purchase index from the Mortgage Bankers Association, skewed by the holiday shortened Labor Day week and perhaps by dislocations in the mortgage market, jumped 5.2 percent in the Sept. 7 week to 448.0. Mortgage rates fell sizably in the week: 30-year fixed down 17 basis points to 6.25 percent, 15-year fixed down 20 basis points to 5.90 percent, and the 1-year adjustable down 18 basis points to 6.34 percent. Refinancing applications, perhaps reflecting the drop in rates, rose 6 percent to 1,876.6 with refinancing making up 42.1 percent of all applications vs. 41.4 percent in the prior week. Next data on the housing market will be the housing market index from the National Association of Home Builders, a market-moving indicator released the afternoon of the Sept. 18 FOMC statement.