FX.co ★ US Mortgage Applications Rise Sharply

US mortgage applications rose 11% in the final week of February compared with the previous week, extending modest gains from the prior two periods and delivering the fourth-strongest weekly reading since 2022, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The pickup coincided with a pullback in benchmark mortgage rates that began the week before and persisted into early March, as a flight to safety in US financial markets drove a sharp decline in yields on long-term US Treasury securities. Refinance applications, which tend to be more sensitive to short-term rate movements, surged 14.3%, while applications for mortgages to purchase new homes increased 6.1%.