Mortgage Applications Decline in August
From Reuters
Washington Mutual Inc. and Countrywide Financial Corp. said they suffered large declines in mortgage applications in August, as rising interest rates slowed the home buying and refinancing boom.
Seattle-based Washington Mutual said fixed-rate applications fell nearly 40% from July, and that the drop might hurt results. Countrywide, based in Calabasas, said average daily mortgage applications fell 29%, to $1.8 billion.
The reported declines follow a rise in the average 30-year mortgage rate to 6.44% last week from 5.21% in June.
From Reuters
