Sorry for the lack of posts today — been pretty busy. One thing that I couldn’t help comment on, however: Have you
noticed that mortgage rates have been ticking higher lately? And that this has had an impact on purchase
applications?
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly purchase application index dropped 6.4% to 357.30 in the week of April 18.
This index has only been lower once this year — 356 in the week of March 28. The MBA also said its measure of 30-year
fixed-rate loan rates popped back above 6% (6.04%) for the first time since the beginning of March.
Now I don’t want to make too big a deal out of this. But if we were to break down out of the recent range in purchases
(let’s say, below 350) and/or break out to the upside in interest rates (let’s call it above 4% in the 10-year Treasury
note yield, or 6.4% on 30-year mortgages), it’ll be something to pay attention to.
The culprit for this recent upside move appears to be inflation
fears, spurred by record-high commodity prices, and the flight of money out of bonds and into stocks, spurred by
greater risk-taking behavior on the part of investors.
Related posts:
- Refis surge; Purchases not so much The latest Mortgage Bankers Association figures show that lower interest rates continue to light a fire under the refinance market....
- Fed leaves rates unchanged The Fed left the funds rate unchanged at today’s policy meeting. Here is the post-meeting statement … “The Federal Open...
- Mortgage demand hits 7-month low despite drop in rates. Here’s why … Mortgage applications dropped sharply in the week of June 26. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s application index (chart above) plunged...
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