FX.co ★ US Mortgage Applications Fall

In the week ending January 23rd, the volume of mortgage applications in the US experienced an 8.5% decline from the previous week. This decrease follows a cumulative 47% increase since the beginning of the year, as reported by the Mortgage Bankers Association. This downturn corresponds with a recent rise in benchmark mortgage rates, which reached a three-week peak due to an uptick in longer-term Treasury yields. Market participants remain attentive to how Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae plan to meet President Trump's directive to acquire $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities. Mortgage refinancing applications, which are particularly sensitive to short-term interest rate changes, dropped by 16% from the previous week, while applications for new home purchases saw little change.