As with every Wednesday morning, it is time to take a look at the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MBA found that total mortgage applications rose 11.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the week prior.
The number of people applying to refinance their homes also rose, 11.7 percent from the week before. Applications for purchases rose 9.5 percent from the week before. It is worth noting that the earlier week contained the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, which skews the numbers for last week somewhat.
Michael Fratantoni, VP of Research and Economics at the MBA commented:
“Applications increased this week relative to the holiday week. Looking over the past two weeks, purchase applications are flat, and refinance applications are down about five percent.”
Refinance activity continues to diminish in comparison to purchase activity, falling from 70.3 percent to 69.3 percent of all mortgage applications. The drop in refinance applications correlates directly to a rise in mortgage rates. Since hitting all time lows in the fall, the average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage has increased nearly three quarters of a point.
Purchase applications have been steadily trending downward for the past three years, except when they were briefly buoyed by the first time home buyer tax credits.
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ashley
February 2, 2011 @ 3:27 pm
good article. I’m hopeful that it will pick up this spring with First Time Home Buyers jumping into the market. Something has to give. If we could ever get the job situation turned around I think that would really help as well.
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