Page 3 - Availability Index News Today

The most ghoulish factoid of these spooky times is that most Californians can't afford to buy a home in the state.

Homebuyer demand for mortgages inched up slightly last week, as rates climbed to the highest level in more than two decades.

Demand for purchase mortgages fell for a fourth consecutive week last week as rates continued to climb, an MBA lender survey shows.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 6.71% for the week ending June 8, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Applications for purchase mortgages rose 5 percent last week, but a strong jobs report and ongoing bank instability are pushing mortgage rates back up.

Requests to refinance accounted for 31 percent of all loan applications last week, well below the past decade’s average of 58 percent.

Jumbo offerings continued to tail off, offsetting a small gain in the availability of government-backed loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In the first two quarters of the year, the channel's lenders lost an average of 35 basis points for each origination.

Mortgage credit availability reaches lowest level since March 2013

Lenders pulled back on government-refinance programs and products for lower-credit score borrowers, pushing loan availability down for the seventh month in a row, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.