Mortgage applications see double-digit drop across the board

Kan added that the steep rate increase continued to halt refinance activity (-18% week over week) and purchase applications (-13%). Year over year, refi applications have fallen behind by 86%, and purchase applications were down 37%.

Read more: How many US homes are in danger from hurricanes?

“Additionally, the spreads between the conforming rate compared to jumbo loans widened again, and we saw the ARM share rise further to almost 12% of applications,” Kan said. “There was also an impact from Hurricane Ian’s arrival in Florida last week, which prompted widespread closings and evacuations. Applications in Florida fell 31%, compared to 14% overall, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity dropped to 29% of total applications, while the adjustable-rate mortgage share rose to 11.8% of total applications.