“The speed and level to which rates have climbed this year have greatly reduced refinance activity and exacerbated existing affordability challenges in the purchase market. Residential housing activity ranging from new housing starts to home sales have been on downward trends coinciding with the rise in rates. The current 30-year fixed rate is now well over three percentage points higher than a year ago, and both purchase and refinance applications were down 38 percent and 86 percent over the year, respectively.” --Joel Kan, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s monthly Loan Monitoring Survey reported loans in forbearance decreased by 3 basis points to 0.69% of servicers’ portfolio volume as of Sept. 30, down from 0.72% in August. MBA estimates 345,000 homeowners remain in forbearance plans.