Home Buyers Behind Surge in Loan Demand
The re-fi boom is over. Now it's time for house hunters to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates. Total mortgage application volume climbed 10 percent last week over the prior week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.
Much of the increase in mortgage applications in recent weeks has been due to a rise in refinance applications, but in the latest week applications to purchase a home made up most of the climb. Applications for home purchases rose 9 percent from the previous week and are up 24 percent compared to a year ago, MBA reports. Purchase applications are now at the second highest level since May 2010.
Offering a boost to affordability, the average on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage last week fell to 3.82 percent from 3.86 percent the prior week, MBA reports. That is the lowest average since January 2015.
"I'm getting a lot of reports from lenders about their clients who missed opportunities to lock in mid to late February, and who finally saw rates move low enough to pull the trigger," says Matthew Graham, chief operating officer of Mortgage News Daily. "The current week is still up in the air, but rates had been holding their ground through Tuesday, despite some ominous weakness in underlying bond markets."
Source: “Homebuyers Finally Fuel Mortgage Volume, Applications Up 10%,” CNBC (April 13, 2016)
No comments:
Post a Comment