U.S. mortgage lending seen slipping

MCLEAN, Va., June 8 (UPI) -- Mortgage lender Freddie Mac says the recent increase in U.S. mortgage rates will reduce refinancing as well as loan origination this summer.

Compared with the third quarter of last year, the coming July-to-September period may see dollar volumes lower by about 25 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday in a statement.

"Lower home sales will be largely offset by home-value gains of about the same proportionate magnitude, resulting in purchase-money volume that is essentially unchanged from the prior year. But a 50-percent drop in refinance originations will translate to lower overall single-family lending during the third quarter, compared with a year earlier."