04 Jan 12 Mortgage Application Activity Slows in the Final Week of 2011
Even as mortgage rates continued at a record pace, the demand for home loans fell in the final week of 2011. The decline in mortgage applications was not unexpected because home financing activity typically slows during the Christmas holidays. Home mortgage declined 4.1% in the final week of 2011. According to Mortgage Bankers Association, home loan purchase applications dipped 9.6% and mortgage refinancing activity declined 2.5 %.
MBA said that the average 30-year mortgage rates on conforming home loans fell to the year’s low of 4.07% from 4.10% the prior week, and well below 4.82% at the end of 2010.
Bob Moulton, president of Americana Mortgage Group in Manhasset, New York, said the company’s loian volume is off to a better start in 2012 than the same time a year ago, because more homeowners are interested in refinancing.
The slide to near-record-low borrowing rates has spurred more homeowners to seek refinancing, propelling that index up more than 60% in 2011.
But demand for home mortgages fell in the year, as borrowers struggled to come up with enough cash for down payments or stayed on the sidelines due to worries about unemployment. Read the complete Reuters article.
04 Nov 10 Mortgage Refinance Demand Dips Slightly
In a recent article, Reuters reported that U.S. loan applications for mortgage refinance loans fell last week even as interest rates held near-record lows. The housing market has been showing modest signs of improvement, with home sales picking up in many regions of the country, but tighter lending requirements and a weak labor market are preventing many consumers from taking advantage of record low mortgage rates.
Home Loan Rates Remain at Record Levels!
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes purchase and home refinance loans, decreased 5.0% for the week ended Oct. 29th. The 4-week moving average, which smoothes the volatile weekly figures, was up 0.1 %. It was the sixth time in eight weeks that activity fell. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of home mortgage refinancing applications fell 6.4 %.
Tom Porcelli, head of U.S. market economics at RBC Capital Markets in New York, said the drop in demand is a reflection of the inability of many homeowners to take advantage of low interest rates. “Lending standards are still stunningly tight,” he said in an interview before the release of the data. “Consumers are in a de-leveraging mode, so buying a home could not be further from their minds right now, and this is what is keeping purchase applications low,” he said.
While demand for home loans to purchase a home rose for a second straight week, activity was below where it was earlier in the month. The MBA’s seasonally adjusted purchase index, a tentative early indicator of home sales, rose 1.4%.
01 Sep 10 Home Loan Applications Rise
Home loan applications increased 2.7% last week as more American consumers took advantage of the lowest rates in decades to lower their mortgage payments. The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday the increase was led by a 2.8% increase in refinance applications. The number of home mortgages taken out to purchase a home rose 1.8 %.
Mortgage refinance activity is at its highest level since May 2009 and makes up almost 83% of all new home mortgages, its highest share since January 2009. However, home sales continue to struggle. Buyers are sitting out because they are worried about jobs or are deterred by strict mortgage requirements. New purchase loan activity is 40% below the levels seen at the end of April, when two federal tax credits for homebuyers expired.
Home loan rates have fallen since spring as investors, worried about the health of the global economy, seek the safety of Treasury bonds. That lowered their yield, and mortgage rates tend to track those yields. The average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage with a fixed rate fell to 4.43% from 4.55% a week earlier. Rates on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a common refinancing option, decreased to 3.88% from 3.91%.
16 Jul 10 Home Loan Applications Decline
The number of home loan applications in the U.S. for home purchases fell to a 13 1/2-year low last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported yesterday, in a further sign of the slump in home buying since a federal tax credit concluded at the end of April. There have been fears for months that the incentive was stealing future sales and would result in a new leg down for the housing market once the support ended. New-home sales sunk to a record in May while pending total sales tumbled 30% from April.
Home loan applications for new homes were down 43% from the Independence Day week last year, said the MBA. The bad news comes even as home mortgage rates sink to new record lows. Those rate declines have been giving some lift to applications for home refinancing, which hit a 14-month high two weeks ago. But even the MBA refinance mortgage report fell 2.9% last week from a week earlier as its gauge for purchases dropped 3.1%. The share of applications for refinance loans was flat at 78.7%.
Tags: Home Loan Applications
14 Jul 10 3rd Week of Record Low Mortgage Rates Drive Refinancing
For the third consecutive week mortgage interest rates fell to shatter records for the lowest rates in our era. Borrowers across the country seemed optimistic that conventional, FHA and VA home mortgage products were meeting their refinance needs. No one can say that the Federal Reserve, mortgage lenders and the government haven’t made a concerted effort in 2010 to aid the housing recovery nationwide.
Affordable Home Refinancing with Record Low Interest Rates
Most industry insiders believe that home purchase loan market will stay weak over the next few months as the housing market adjusts to the end of government incentives. According to Jerry Mlinar of Woodfield Planning, an Illinois mortgage lender said, “First time home buyers are motivated by low rates, but existing homeowners have a huge incentive to refinance because they stand to save significant money monthly immediately.” Mlinar confirmed that his company saw an increase in home refinance applications, but cautioned that guidelines for refinancing had tightened over the last few years. The lender said that the stated income and no equity mortgages are no longer available.
The average 30-year mortgage rate was little changed in the week ended July 9th, dipping to 4.49%. The mortgage rate rested just below the record low of 4.61% set in March 2009, according to the MBA’s records that date back to 1990. Fifteen-year mortgage rates dipped to 4.08% last week from the record low 4.06 % set the prior week. FHA and VA rates posted a rate reduction as well and more borrowers requested rate and term refinancing rather than cash out loans.
Tags: Illinois mortgage lender, Jerry Mlinar, no equity mortgages, VA home mortgage products, Woodfield Planning
06 Jul 10 Mortgage Activity Slowing Despite Record Low Home Loan Rates
2010 has been a roller coaster ride for mortgage professionals because interest rates have been low but consumers are slower to do anything because of our sluggish economy. Record low home mortgage rates have done nothing to stop a renewed housing slide, as new home sales fell to record lows in May and both mortgage refinancing and home buying volumes fell throughout June.
According to Bob Dorsa, president of the American Credit Union Mortgage Association, “There’s a bit of a fear in the marketplace and people don’t want to do anything.” A strong market in the first quarter of the year had buoyed hopes of a housing recovery, but it appears the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit was a primary driver; since its expiration new home sales were down 32.7% in May to an annualized rate of 300,000. That’s the lowest home mortgage rates reported since record keeping for interest rates began in 1963.
The thirty-year fixed rate mortgage dipped to an average of 4.69%. That is the lowest rates recorded since Freddie Mac between tracking mortgage rates in 1971. The previous record of 4.71% was set in December. The 15-year average fell from 4.20% to 4.13%, also a record low. ARM rates have also moved near record territory, with the average for the five-year ARM falling from 3.89% to 3.85% and the average for the one-year ARM dipping from 3.82% to 3.77%.
Mortgage refinance rates have declined even more over the last two months. Home loan rates tend to track the yields on long-term Treasury debt. Refinance loan volumes have also slowed even as interest rates are falling below levels seen during the “mini-boom” of 2009. Unfortunately most homeowners who are failing to produce enough income to keep their loan payments current usually do not have the required income need to qualify for mortgage refinancing.
In Alabama, Anita Domondon, VP with Meriwest Mortgage noted, “With the Home Affordable Refinance Program enables home refinancing to 125% and for many homeowners that is not good enough because their mortgage is so far underwater.” The notion of a housing double-dip is starting to take hold in some circles, including credit unions. And while CUs across the country have gamely offered loan modifications and debt settlement programs, the rock-bottom rates have left many inflexible on mortgages. The original article was written by Matt Blumenfeld.
Tags: ARM rates, lowest home mortgage rates, thirty-year fixed rate mortgage
05 Jul 10 Mortgage Lead Generation Improving for Brokers and Lending Companies
Representatives from mortgage companies have been complaining for years how the quality of mortgage leads has been detiriorating every time the lenders tighten the requirements and loan program guidelines. Mortgage Lead Vault (MLV) published a news article that highlighted the rise of refinance lead volumes that could be considered a positive indicator for the mortgage industry. MLV cited news sources like the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Lead Planet for the loan application statistics and mortgage lead data. In their Weekly Mortgage Application Survey, MBA reported that the Refinance Index spiked 12.6% from the previous week. They also noted that this was the most significant increase for the Refinance Index since the report for the week ending May 22, 2009.
Kevin Grant the chief economist for mortgage lead generation company, the Lead Planet said, “The refinance lead activity has been surging since the homebuyer tax credits expired at the end of April.” Grant also told MLV that “the lead quality should dramatically increase as the banks and lenders loosen up their refinance guidelines.” See the original news article> Mortgage Refinance Lead Volume Rises. Article was written by Patrick Miller
10 Jun 10 Refinance Applications Drop
According to Mortgage Refinancing Buzz, the home refinance applications fell last week. They noted that the “pool of eligible borrowers eligible for a home refinance has been shrinking significantly as lenders tighten refinance guidelines.” Home purchase loan applications dropped 5.625% last week which is down 42% since the end of April when the home buyer tax credit expired. The refinance index is seriously ailing even though fixed mortgage rates are below 5%. Mortgage refinance activity dropped 14% last week. Michael Fratantoni writes, “Despite the historically low mortgage rates, many homeowners can’t qualify because of negative equity or bad credit.” FHA refinance loans are available but borrowers can’t have any late mortgage payments being reported from their lender in the last year. In addition most FHA lenders are requiring a minimum of a 640 fico score, so that is eliminating millions of borrowers from home refinancing. Read the original article online > Credit Problems Hindering Mortgage Refinancing.
Tags: refinance guidelines
