Welcome to DSNews.com—delivering stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Thu Feb 09, 2012
Overall, demand for residential mortgages is still on a downward slope, despite record-low interest rates and extremely affordable market conditions.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Wednesday that home loan application volume dropped 4.5 percent during the week ending November 20. It’s the third week in a row that mortgage activity has taken a dive.
Borrower requests for home loan refinancing decreased 9.5 percent from the previous week. However, applications for new purchases jumped 9.6 percent, after hitting a 12-year low the week before. But because refinances make up such a large portion of overall application volume – more than 70 percent – their decline succeeded in pulling the overall numbers down.
MBA also reported average contract interest rates for last week. Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased slightly, dropping from 4.83 percent the previous week to 4.82 percent.
The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages remained flat at 4.32 percent.
Do you have a news tip, story idea, or suggestion for DSNews.com or DS News magazine?
Simply e-mail editor@dsnews.com.
Whether you choose to tell us a little about yourself or prefer anonymity, we appreciate your contribution!
