Weekly mortgage demand and mortgage rates remain stagnant, indicating a sluggish summer real estate market.

• The interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased from 6.94% to 6.93%.
• The number of applications to refinance a home loan remained constant from week to week, but increased by 26% compared to the same week the previous year.
• The number of mortgage applications for purchasing a home rose by 1% in the current week, but was 13% lower compared to the corresponding week in the previous year.

Despite a disappointing spring housing market, the summer market is showing no signs of improvement. Home prices remain high, mortgage rates remain stagnant, and consumers are underwhelmed by the modest increase in home listings.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index shows that total mortgage application volume remained flat last week, with a slight increase of 0.8% from the previous week. Despite this, weekly mortgage demand has been stagnant for two consecutive weeks.

The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased to 6.93% from 6.94%, with points remaining unchanged at 0.61 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. Notably, this is the lowest rate seen in over three months.

The number of applications to refinance a home loan remained constant from week to week, but increased by 26% compared to the same week the previous year.

Despite lower rates, refinance borrowers were not enticed back, as most continue to hold mortgages with considerably lower rates, according to Joel Kan, an MBA economist in a release.

The number of mortgage applications for purchasing a home rose by 1% this week, but was 13% lower compared to the same week last year. Despite a 18% increase in total housing supply from a year ago, the market remains tight, according to Zillow.

After adjusting for the Juneteenth holiday, there was a slight rise in purchase applications. Government purchase loans, including FHA and VA, experienced gains of over 2 percent compared to the previous week, as homebuyers in those segments seized the opportunity to benefit from recent rate relief, according to Kan.

This week, mortgage rates are expected to remain unchanged until Friday when consumer spending and personal consumption prices reports are released. Any indication of inflation can affect bond yields and subsequently, mortgage rates.