Mortgage refinancing applications surged 35% last week and were up 118% compared to a year ago, as homeowners responded to a significant drop in mortgage rates over the past month.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell slightly to 6.54% last week, but it was enough to increase the refinance share of mortgage activity to 48.6% of total applications, up from 41.7% the previous week and 29% a year ago.
In contrast, applications for home purchase mortgages rose just 3% for the week and remained 8% lower than a year ago, as buyers still face high home prices and low supply.
