This blog post was written by La Shawn Skeete. La Shawn is a Summer Research Intern, and is currently studying at The University of Maryland, College Park pursuing a degree in Economics.

  •  Seasonally adjusted mortgage loan applications increased 1.6% from the week ending June 12th and 10.5% when compared to this time last year.
  • Seasonally adjusted applications for purchase increased slightly over the week by 1.2% and are 1.0% higher than the 4-week average and 17.8% higher than this time last year.
  • Applications for refinance also increased over the week by 1.9% and volumes are higher than this time last year by 4.3%. Government refinance applications are notably higher than this time last year (34.3%); likely due to the FHA fee reduction in late January 2015.
  • 30-year FRM rates remain affordable at 4.19%, a 3 basis points decrease over the week, and less than in 2014 by 14 basis points. Fixed rate mortgage applications volumes are higher since last year by 11.4%, while adjustable rate mortgage applications are lower.

purchase apps

purch apps

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  • Low housing supply continues to obstruct growth in the housing market; current unsold inventory will be depleted in 5.1 months at the current sales pace.
  • Low inventory also means near double digit appreciation in home values in many markets.

Mortgage application data serves as an indicator to homes sales and other home related expenditures such as appliances and furniture.