Mortgage demand was up 6.6% for the first time in five weeks thanks to a big jump in purchases, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association…(MBA)
- PURCHASES: The Purchases Index was up 8% for the week but was still 16% lower compared with a year ago.
- REFIS: The Refinance Index was actually up 4% for the week but, of course, was 76% lower than the same week one year ago.
NOTE: The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 31.7% of total applications from 32.2% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 8.1%of total applications.
Demand was up despite a big jump in rates with MBA pricing the 30-yr fixed up 25 basis points at 5.65% for the week ending June 10th…
- MBA priced the 15-year fixed up 15 basis points to 4.79% and the 5/1 ARMs was up 6 basis points to 4.57%.
With all the doom and gloom talk about housing it was surprising to see demand increase for the first time in five weeks. Rates have jumped significantly so it is likely these numbers will fall next week, but it is also clear that demand for housing is holding strong. The 30-year fixed, according to MBA, is up over 250 basis points and purchase activity is only off 15% for the year. I know I mention this every week, but the longer it holds the more impressive it gets.