Loan Rates Drop as Does Demand for Mortgage Loans

Home loan demand rates

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the seasonally adjusted index of mortgage loan applications (purchase and refi) dropped 1.2% last week while the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dipped below 5% for the first time in seven weeks.

To be more specific in understanding the market however, we should look at the MBA data more closely. We see that The Refinance Index increased 1.4% from the previous week and the Purchase Index decreased 7.0% from one week earlier.

But there’s hope

Dan Green of The Mortgage Reports said that “This is a strong report for housing, actually. We have to ignore the weekly data and look at the 4-week average instead. Purchase activity is up and that bodes well for the Spring Market.”

Yesterday’s news that FHA default rates surpass 9% matching the default rate for all mortgages across the United States has some forecasting a rough year, yet Green’s note about a spring uptick might be on task as consumer sentiment and an increase in app rates in Q2 might just be what the real estate sector needs most. What say you?