Mortgage Applications Fall for the Fourth Straight Week
Y’all, the four-day workweek during Memorial Day ain’t helpin’ our mortgage applications 😩 The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) just announced that our application volume went down 1.4% (adjusted for seasons) and a whopping 12% (unadjusted) 📉
And guess what? The Refinance Index dropped 1.0% from last week and is a whopping 42.0% lower compared to this time last year 🏦💔 But on the bright side, the refinance share of mortgage activity did go up to 27.3% from 26.7% the previous week 💪💰 #Slowdown #MortgageApplications #MemorialDayBlues
Well, bless our hearts, y’all! The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index took a little dip of 2.0% 📉 The unadjusted index didn’t fare much better, droppin’ a whopping 13.0% compared to last week and a staggering 27% from this time last year 😱💔 #PurchaseIndex #DownwardTrend #RealEstateWoes
🌾 “Well, y’all, mortgage rates took a dip last week after reachin’ a high point, but total application activity ain’t lookin’ too good for the fourth week in a row,” drawled Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The 30-year fixed rate went down to 6.81 percent, droppin’ by 10 basis points compared to last week, but it’s still the second highest rate we’ve seen in 2023 so far. 📉
“Overall, applications are over 30 percent lower than they were a year ago, ’cause folks are strugglin’ with these high rates. Buyin’ homes is harder now with reduced purchasin’ power and the lack of available homes for sale. And if you’re thinkin’ ’bout refinancin’, well, the rates ain’t offerin’ much incentive. We did see a smaller decline in government purchase applications last week, which matches the growin’ number of first-time home buyers in the market.” 🏡
Highlights from MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey: 📊
💰 Loan sizes dropped ’bout $10,000 last week. The average loan size was $381,200, and for purchase loans, it was ’round $429,700. 💵
🏢 The FHA share of total applications increased to 13.2 percent from 12.7 percent, while the VA share went up to 12.5 percent from 12.1 percent. USDA loan applications made up 0.4 percent of the total. 📈
🏠 Conformin’ 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FMR) had an average rate of 6.91 percent, and the points dropped from 0.83 to 0.66. 📉
🏦 Jumbo 30-year FRM had an average rate of 6.74 percent, compared to 6.78 percent the prior week. The points fell to 0.56 from 0.76. 📉
🏘️ Thirty-year FRM with FHA guarantees went down from 6.85 percent with 1.26 points to 6.73 percent with 1.15 points. 📉
🌅 The rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.25 percent, and the points went down to 0.62 from 0.84. 📉
🔄 The average contract interest rate for 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) went up to 5.93 percent, with points increasin’ to 0.96 from 0.46. ⬆️
🤝 The share of activity for ARMs remained unchanged at 6.8 percent. 🔄
#MortgageRates #HousingMarket #SouthernFinance #Homebuyers #Refinancing
