Mortgage Demand Down Again
Mortgage demand was back to its slumping ways after rising slightly one week earlier, according to the latest report from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Home loan application volume slipped 1.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis (-1.7% unadjusted) for the week ending March 12; the year-over-year data is unknown because the MBA no longer publishes it.
Refinance volume fell 1.7 percent week-to-week, while purchase apps fell 2.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis.
The unadjusted purchase index was off 1.8 percent compared with the week prior and 13.9 percent lower than the same week a year ago.
That pushed the refinance share of mortgage activity to 67.3 percent of total applications, up minimally from 67.2 percent.
The good news is mortgage rates continue to stay super low, with the popular 30-year fixed slipping to 4.91 percent from 5.01 percent.
The 15-year fixed fell to 4.24 percent from 4.32 percent, and the one year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 6.75 percent, down from 6.80 percent.
The ARM-share of total applications fell to 4.6 percent from 5.1 percent of total applications.
The MBA’s weekly survey covers more than half of all retail, residential home loan applications, but does not factor out duplicate or declined apps, which have surely risen in the past few years.
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