US mortgage applications fall 1.3pc

US mortgage applications fell by 1.3% week-on-week in the seven days ended 27 September, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the first drop in more than a month.

Applications to refinance a mortgage fell 3% but remained 186% higher than at the same time a year earlier, while applications to purchase a home ticked up 1% week-on-week

The muted movement was seen as being consistent with the stabilisation of benchmark mortgage rates, which edged up one basis point from their two-year low of 6.13% in the week ended 20 September after the Federal Reserve implemented its first rate cut since 2020.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com