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Monthly Archives: June 2016

Mortgage Rates Mixed As Demand Falls

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, demand for mortgage applications fell last week, dropping 4.1 percent from the week before. The decline included a 4 percent decrease in the refinance index and a 5 percent drop in demand for applications for loans to buy homes. Still, purchase application demand is 28 percent higher than the same week last year and mortgage rates remain near historic lows. Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist, told CNBC that some of the volatility in the mortgage market is due to uncertainty about whether or not the Fed will raise interest rates this month. “Market expectations for a June Fed hike have increased recently leading to a flattening of the yield curve, as short-term rates have risen more than longer-term rates,” Fratantoni said. “As a result, we saw an increase in rates for 15-year mortgages last week, even as rates on 30-year loans remained unchanged.” In fact, average mortgage rates fell for both 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo balances and loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. On the other hand, rates for 30-year loans with conforming balances were unchanged from the week before and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. More here.

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Local Housing Markets Continue To Improve

Though still below it’s all-time high, Freddie Mac’s most recent Multi-Indicator Market Index shows the housing market continuing to improve. In fact, the index – which compares long-term norms to current data in an effort to measure how quickly markets have bounced back following the housing crash – shows a 7.23 percent overall improvement to the national housing market since last year. Additionally, the market has now rebounded 41 percent from its low in October 2010. Len Kiefer, Freddie Mac’s deputy chief economist, says residential real estate should finish the year strong. “The U.S. housing market is poised to have its best year in a decade and the spring home buying season is off to a strong start,” Kiefer said. “Pent up demand for homes and near record-low mortgage rates are bolstering housing markets across the country. The National MiMi currently stands at 83.8, the highest since September of 2008. Home purchase applications are up nearly 14 percent from one year ago, mortgage delinquencies continue to trend down, and robust employment growth are all positive signs.” According to the release, 36 of 50 states and 65 percent of the included metropolitan areas are now within their long-term normal range. Since last year, the most improved cities were Orlando, Denver, Tampa, Cape Coral, and Portland. More here.

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