Mortgage Applications Surge Amid Falling Rates
More people are applying for mortgages: Applications for home mortgages had their largest increase in three months due to falling record-low interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports.
MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity increased 13 percent for the week ended June 10. That marks the index’s biggest gain since March. The index measures applications for refinancing and purchase demand.
Most of the spike was from refinancing applications, which increased 16.5 percent from last week. However, requests for mortgage applications for home purchases also rose 4.5 percent.
“Mortgage rates have declined for 8 of the past 9 weeks,” Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. “Coming off of the Memorial Day holiday, refinance application volume increased significantly, as borrowers jumped to lock in the lowest mortgage rates since last November.”
Source: “Mortgage Applications See Biggest Gain in 3 Months: MBA,” Reuters News (June 14, 2011)
