Mortgage applications fell in the week ending May 28, according to the findings of two separate weekly surveys. Applications submitted for refinance reversed a four-week-long upward trend, plummeting 14.% in the last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). The refinance share of total applications fell to 72.2%, from 73.8% a week earlier. Taken together, the falls in both refinance and purchase interest brought MBA’s mortgage application index down a seasonally adjusted 12.2% this week. “Although rates remained essentially flat, refinance applications dropped this past week for the first time in a month,” said MBA vice president of research and economics Michael Fratantoni, in a statement. He added; “Despite the historically low rates, many homeowners have already refinanced recently, remain underwater on their mortgages, have uncertain job situations, or have damaged credit following this downturn, and therefore may not qualify to refinance.” At the same time, the total volume of applications submitted for purchase mortgages plunged 16.3%. Adjusting for the Memorial Day holiday, MBA put the seasonally adjusted decline much lower, at 5.7%. “Purchase applications are now 35% below their level of four weeks ago, as homebuyers have not yet returned to the market following the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit at the end of April,” Fratantoni said. The Mortgage Maxx index, which adjusts data to reflect the number of households applying for a mortgage, found 2.8% fewer households submitted applications in the same week. Write to Diana Golobay.
Plunge in Refinance Requests Pulls Mortgage Applications Down
Most Popular Articles
Latest Articles
Spring housing market gets more inventory
We’ve now had back-to-back weeks of healthy housing inventory growth, making spring 2024 much healthier than spring 2023.
-
The best real estate podcasts for agents and brokers in 2024
-
Home sellers saw their profits shrink in the first quarter: Attom
-
If reelected, Trump could seek greater control over Federal Reserve
-
Acra CEO Keith Lind on staying the course amid choppy waters in non-QM
-
HUD walks back some proposed changes to HECM for Purchase program