Mortgage Apps, Week 1: Promising Start or Catch-Up Time?

Mortgage activity rose significantly during the week ended January 5, but it faced a pretty low bar. Loan application numbers were adjusted to account for the New Year’s holiday on the first day of the week and measured against the four days of Christmas Week. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 9.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the prior week and was 45 percent higher without adjustments. [refiappschart] The holiday-adjusted Refinance Index rose 19 percent from the previous week and 53 percent on an unadjusted basis. The two versions were 30 percent and 17 percent higher year-over-year. Refinancing accounted for 38.3 percent of total applications, up from 36.3 percent the previous week. [purchaseappschart] The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index gained 6 percent for the week and was 40 percent higher on an unadjusted basis, but activity still lagged the same week in 2023 by 16 percent.   “Despite an uptick in mortgage rates to start 2024, applications increased after adjusting for the holiday,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The increase in purchase and refinance applications for both conventional and government loans is promising to start the year but was likely due to some catch-up in activity after the holiday season and year-end rate declines. Mortgage rates and applications have been volatile in recent weeks and overall activity remains low. ”


http://dlvr.it/T1Bwjq

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Get Ready for Smaller, More Affordable Homes Have you been trying to buy a home, but higher mortgage rates and home prices are limiting your options? If so, here’s some good news, smaller, more affordable homes are on the way. In some ways, smaller homes are already here. When the pandemic hit, the meaning of home changed. People needed the space their home provided not only as a place to live, but as a place to work, go to school, exercise, and more. Those who had that space were more likely to keep it. And those that didn’t were in a position where they were trying to sell their smaller house to move up to a larger one. That meant the homes coming to the market during the pandemic were smaller than those on the market before the pandemic – and that trend continues today. Larger homes tend to come on the market during the summer months when households with children who are out of school are looking to move. That seasonality means, based on historical trends and the fact that fall is now approaching, we can expect smaller, more affordable homes to come to the market throughout the rest of the year. What Does This Mean for You? The seasonal trend of smaller homes coming to the market in the later months of the year, coupled with builders bringing smaller, more affordable newly built homes to the market right now, is good news – especially if you’re finding it difficult to afford a home. If a smaller, more affordable home sounds appealing to you, good news – they’re coming. To keep up with what’s available in our area, DM me. #realestate #homeownership #homebuying www.DanFreshley.com

Image
Get Ready for Smaller, More Affordable Homes Have you been trying to buy a home, but higher mortgage rates and home prices are limiting your options? If so, here’s some good news, smaller, more affordable homes are on the way. In some ways, smaller homes are already here. When the pandemic hit, the meaning of home changed. People needed the space their home provided not only as a place to live, but as a place to work, go to school, exercise, and more. Those who had that space were more likely to keep it. And those that didn’t were in a position where they were trying to sell their smaller house to move up to a larger one. That meant the homes coming to the market during the pandemic were smaller than those on the market before the pandemic – and that trend continues today. Larger homes tend to come on the market during the summer months when households with children who are out of school are looking to move. That seasonality means, based on historical trends and the fact that fall ...
Read more

Accounting, Digital, Broker Comp Tools; FHA, VA, USDA Developments; Why Rates are Stubborn

Image
Imagine my surprise at finding tag (like on the playground) is an organized sport. Imagine my surprise at finding two gas stations at the same intersection yesterday in Truckee, California with two different prices for unleaded! Rather than wait for the CFPB to tell me that I could save money by going to the cheapest station, as it did by paying for a study on how different lenders have different mortgage prices, I actually reasoned, all by myself, that I could, and did, buy the least expensive gasoline. Switching gears, but continuing on with the thinking vein, a lot of reasoning went into determining that a) the earth is round, and b) globes are not some newly invented conspiracy theory. Someone needs to let Georgia’s current GOP district chair Kandiss Taylor know globes are globes. What the heck am I missing by subscribing to the round earth concept? And how about this for sensationalist headlines from Auction.com: One-Third of Buyers Expect Home Prices to Decline. Really? “Despite ...
Read more