US mortgage applications fall 5.1pc

US mortgage applications fell by 5.1% in the week ended 4 October, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, extending the prior week's 1.3% drop in taking a bite out of the almost 30% surge in demand throughout September.

Applications to refinance a mortgage sank by 9% but were still double what they were at the same time a year ago, while applications to purchase a home were broadly unchanged week-on-week.

The drop in applications came alongside a rebound in benchmark mortgage rates, as the yield on the benchmark ten-year Treasury note moved past 4% and strong labour data led many to believe that the Federal Reserve will likely be less dovish moving forward.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com