Application volume the past week didn’t fully recover from the usual Thanksgiving week losses a week prior. Refinancing did improve, but purchase volume ended a four-week streak of gains . Results for the prior week had included an adjustment for the observance of the holiday. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume for the week ended December 2, decreased 1.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. The unadjusted Index gained 36 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index rose by 5 percent from the previous week but was 86 percent lower than the same week in 2021. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 28.7 percent of total applications from 26.1 percent the previous week. [refiappschart] The Purchase Index was down 3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the prior week but reclaimed the 31 percent loss the preceding week on an unadjusted basis. Purchase volume is down 40 percent from the same period last year. [purchaseappschart] “Mortgage applications decreased 2 percent compared to the Thanksgiving holiday-adjusted results from the previous week, even as mortgage rates continued to trend lower. Rates decreased for most loan products, with the 30-year fixed declining 8 basis points to 6.41 percent after reaching 7.16 percent in October,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The 30-year fixed rate was
