US MBA mortgage applications w.e. 18 August -4.2% vs -0.8% prior

<ul><li>Prior -0.8%</li><li>Market index 184.8 vs 193.0 prior</li><li>Purchase index 142.0 vs 149.5 prior</li><li>Refinance index 397.1 vs 408.4 prior</li><li>30-year mortgage rate 7.31% vs 7.16% prior</li></ul><p>The pain in the mortgage market continues as we see another 4% drop in applications in the past week. Both purchases and refinancing activity suffered greatly as the most popular US home loan rate surges to its highest since 2000. Other parts of the US economy may be resilient to the Fed's rate hikes, but the housing market is certainly being hurt the most I would say.</p>

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.