Perhaps March will bring in good fortune in the mortgage market, as applications have finally increased after many weeks on the decline. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, applications increased 9.7 percent from one week earlier for the week ending March 1.
The Refinance Index increased 8 percent from the previous week and was 2 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
“The latest data on inflation was not markedly better nor worse than expected, which was enough to bring mortgage rates down a bit, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate declining slightly last week to 7.02 percent,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and Chief Economist. “Mortgage applications were up considerably relative to the prior week, which included the President’s Day holiday. Of note, purchase volume – particularly for FHA loans—was up strongly, again showing how sensitive the first-time homebuyer segment is to relatively small changes in the direction of rates. Other sources of housing data are showing increases in new listings, which is a real positive for the spring buying season given the lack of for-sale inventory.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 30.2 percent of total applications from 31.2 percent the previous week.