Mortgage applications closed 2020 slightly lower than mid-December, according to the latest weekly survey released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Overall, applications were down 4.2 percent from two weeks earlier – with the Refinance Index down 34 percent and the Purchase Index down 0.8 percent. Year over year, however, refinances were up 100 percent from this time last year while purchases were up 3 percent.
The FHA share of total applications remained unchanged from 10.1 percent. The VA share of total applications increased to 13.6 percent from 12.1 percent and the USDA share of total applications increased to 0.4 percent from 0.3 percent.
“The steady demand for home buying throughout most of 2020 should continue in 2021,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “MBA is forecasting for purchase originations to rise to $1.59 trillion this year – an all-time high.”