Highlights
The housing market has remained resilient through the prior period of weak job growth and through the current spell of high gas prices, but rising interest rates may finally be slowing the sector down, at least this is the early indication from the Mortgage Bankers' Association survey. The MBA's purchase index fell back sharply for a second week, down 6.2% to 437.6 in the Oct. 28 week. The refinancing index also declined, down 2.8% to 1,862.8. Both are showing the dampening effects of rising interest rates which jumped sharply in the week: the average 30-year fixed mortgage jumped 15 basis points in the week to 6.21%, 15-year fixed was up 18 basis points, and the 1-year adjustable was up 2 basis points to 5.39%.