Weekly mortgage apps/August new home sales

The drop in mortgage rates continues to mostly help refi’s more so than purchases. The MBA said refi’s jumped 20.3% w/o/w and higher by 60% y/o/y as those who procured a mortgage rate north of 7% over the past few years I’m sure is refinancing. Purchases continue to rise but at a more modest pace, up by 1.4% w/o/w and flattish y/o/y, up by 2.4%.

Separately, new home sales in August were a bit above the forecast at 716k vs the estimate of 700k and July was revised up by 12k to 751k. The average 30 yr mortgage rate in the month was 6.49% vs 6.88% in July and is now around 6.20% according to Freddie Mac.