Mortgage rates drop to 3.52 percent

Mortgage rates declined 4 basis points to 3.52 percent since last week, according to the latest mortgage rates data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) publishes the results of a weekly applications survey that covers roughly 50 percent of all residential mortgage originations and tracks the average interest rate for 30 year and 15 year fixed rate mortgages as well as the volume of both purchase and refinance applications. 

The purchase application index has been highlighted as a particularly important data series as it very broadly captures the demand side of residential real estate for both new and existing home purchases. 

The latest data is showing that the average rate for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage (from FHA and conforming GSE data) declined 4 basis points to 3.52% since last week while the purchase application volume increased 4% and the refinance application volume increased 5% over the same period.