Mortgage loan application volume rose 5.5% last week, responding to interest rate dips, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reported. The Market Composite Index, which measures application volume, fell 5.5% on an adjusted basis. The Refinance Index jumped 7% and was 28% lower than a year ago, rebounding from last week’s drop to its lowest level since July 2021. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index rose 3%, while the unadjusted Purchase Index rose .1% compared to the week before, down 4% from the previous year. Interest rates fell to 3.09% after several weeks on the rise, with the 30-year fixed rate falling 14 basis points over the last two weeks. Applications, especially for refinancing, dropped alongside them. “Although overall activity…
Forbearances fell for another week, but that does not mean homeowners have completely recovered from their economic losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The total number of forborne loans is down to 2.06% of servicers’ portfolio volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The estimated number of homeowners in forbearance plans dropped to around 1 million. “More borrowers who exited forbearance the last week of October went into modifications, a sign that they have not yet regained their pre-pandemic level of income,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. The national median household income has fallen 2.9% from 2019 to 2020, and is now $67,521. It is the first decline since 2011, and early…
Forbearances continued to drop last week, with the total number of loans in protection down to 2.15% of servicers’ portfolio volume, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The estimated number of homeowners in forbearance plans remains around 1.1 million. “For the first time since March 2020, the share of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans in forbearance dropped below 1%. A small decline for this investor category was matched by similarly small declines for Ginnie Mae and portfolio/PLS loans,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “Forbearance exits slowed at the end of October to the slowest pace since late August. With so many borrowers having reached the end of their 18-month forbearance term,…
Mortgage loan application volume rose by just 0.3% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reports. The Market Composite Index, which measures application volume, rose 0.3% on an adjusted basis. The Refinance Index fell 2% and was 26% lower than a year ago. It’s the Refinance Index’s lowest level since January 2020. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index rose 4%, while the unadjusted Purchase Index rose 3% compared to the week before, down 9% from the previous year. “Mortgage rates increased again last week, as the 30-year fixed rate reached 3.30% and the 15-year fixed rate rose to 2.59%- the highest for both in eight months. The increase in rates triggered the fifth straight decrease in refinance activity to…
Forbearances continued to drop last week, though not as dramatically as the week before. The total number of loans in forbearance dropped to 2.21% of servicers’ portfolio volume, down from 2.28% the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The estimated number of homeowners in forbearance plans remains around 1.1 million. This week’s drop of seven basis points is a significant cooling compared to the prior week’s drop of 34 basis points. Black Knight reported that forbearances have entered a mid-month slowdown which they said to be unremarkable, mimicking “the same mid-month lull in removal activity that we’ve been reporting on for many months now.” MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni acknowledged the…
Housing stakeholders gathered at the nation’s capitol to call for the budget reconciliation package being negotiated in Congress to substantially support housing. The group included National Association of Realtors (NAR) CEO Bob Goldberg, members of the National Housing Conference (NHC), Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Habitat for Humanity, National Association of Homebuilders, and others. Representative Sherrod Brown (D-OH), chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, also attended. “Housing is fundamental to an economy that works for all. Democrats and President Biden understand this,” Chairman Brown said in his speech. “Robust housing investments support families and kids, improve health outcomes, and address climate change – while creating…
Mortgage loan application volume fell 6.3% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reported. The Market Composite Index, which measures application volume, fell 6.3% on an adjusted basis. The Refinance Index fell 7% and was 22% lower than a year ago. It’s the Refinance Index’s lowest level since July 2021. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index fell 5%, while the unadjusted Purchase Index dropped 5% compared to the week before, down 12% from the previous year. “Refinance applications declined for the fourth week as rates increased, bringing the refinance index to its lowest level since July 2021. The 30-year fixed rate has increased 20 basis points over the past month and reached 3.23% last week – the highest since…
Forbearances fell again last week, dropping to 2.28% of servicers’ portfolio volume, down from 2.62% the week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest survey. The estimated number of homeowners in forbearance plans is around 1.1 million. This week’s drop of 34 basis points beats out last week’s decline of 27 basis points, which was at that point the fastest rate of decline since October 2020. For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, forbearances were down 16 basis points to 1.05%. Ginnie Mae loans fell 17 basis points to 2.77%. Portfolio loans and private-label securities shares fell 108 basis points, from 6.91% to 5.34%. Independent mortgage bank servicers saw a drop of 25 basis points to 2.57%, and…
Mortgage loan application volume ticked up 0.2% last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly survey reported. The Market Composite Index, which measures application volume, rose 0.2% on an adjusted basis. On an unadjusted basis, they rose 0.4% from the week before. The Refinance Index fell 1% and was 16% lower than a year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index rose 2%, while the unadjusted Purchase Index rose 2% compared to the week before, down 10% from the previous year. “Mortgage rates reached their highest level since June 2021, but application activity changed little this week. An increase in home purchase applications offset a slight decline in refinances,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “The increase…
Mortgage credit availability rose by 1.5%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI). This is its highest level since May 2021. The index analyzes data from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool. The MCAI rose to 125.6, with the Conventional MCAI increasing 4.5% while the Government MCAI fell by 0.7%. The Jumbo MCAI rose by 5.8% and the Confirming MCAI rose by 2.6%. “Last month’s expansion was driven by a 4.5 percent increase in the conventional index, while the government index slightly decreased. Even with increases in seven out of nine months thus far in 2021, total credit availability is still around 30 percent less than it was in February 2020 before the…
