Mortgage demand decreased 22.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ending December 25 before rising a meager 0.5 percent a week later, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
On an unadjusted basis, the home loan index plummeted 46.9 percent the week before Christmas and increased 0.4 percent a week after.
While it’s not surprising to see soft demand for mortgage applications during the holiday period, purchase activity was off nearly 30 percent compared with the same period in 2008.
Refinance activity also slipped both weeks, falling 30.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively.
That pushed the refinance share of mortgage activity from 75.9 percent to 68.2 percent of applications.
Meanwhile, interest rates closed out 2009 with upward momentum; the popular 30-year fixed, which had slipped to a record low 4.71 percent in early December, climbed to 5.18 percent.
The 15-year fixed, increased from 4.34 percent two weeks ago to 4.62 percent, but remains close to its record low.
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.
Over the past year, they’ve also removed the year-over-year stats (not sure why), making it difficult to gauge the long-term health of the mortgage market.
Related Topics:
