Purchase applications declined to the slowest pace since May while refinance applications also took a nosedive.

High summer’s heat may be making home equity rates sleepy. The average rate on a $30,000 home equity line of credit (HELOC) was unchanged at 8.27 percent for the fifth straight week, according to Bankrate’s national survey of lenders. The average rate on the $30,000 home equity loan barely stirred, moving two basis points up to 8.28 percent.

This morning brought another inflation report. Given the negative reaction to yesterday's inflation data, there was some cause for concern. Thankfully, today's data was more unequivocally acceptable for the bond market and--thus--interest rates.