Mortgage applications fell 16.5% during holiday week

Mortgage applications slowed considerably last week both adjusted for the Thanksgiving holiday and on an unadjusted basis. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its market composite index fell 16.5% for the week ended Nov. 26 on a seasonally adjusted basis including an adjustment for the holiday. The index decreased 34.2% from the prior week on an unadjusted basis. Refinancing and purchase applications are heading in opposite directions, according to the MBA. The purchase index rose 1.1% last week to the highest level since early May while refinancings dropped 21.6% to the lowest point since June. Although the unadjusted purchase applications index fell 22.9% from the previous week and is 2.7% higher than a year earlier. The numbers continue to swing back and forth weekly. Last week, the MBA reported the overall index rose 2.1% aided by a 14.4% gain in purchase applications. In four-week moving averages, the seasonally adjusted market index is down 5.8%, the purchase index is up 3.8% and the refinance index is down 8.2%. Refinancings continue to account for less and less of all weekly mortgage applications, and the figure fell to 74.9% last week, down from 78.6% the week earlier. The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage has risen steadily for about a month and is now at 4.56%, according to the MBA, up from 4.5% the week before. The average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 3.91% from 3.83% a week earlier. Write to Jason Philyaw.