Sales down - Rates up

The Mortgage Bankers of America said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, slid 13.7% lower during the week ended October 16th. Applications to buy a home, a tentative indicator of sales, dropped 7.6% lower from the previous week while refinance applications fell 16.8%. The MBA said borrowing costs on 30-year fixed rate mortgages, excluding fees, rose 0.05 percentage points from the previous week to average 5.07%. This was above the all-time low of 4.61% set in March, but well below the 6.28% level of a year ago.