It is not surprising that applications for a residential mortgage have crashed and burned after The Federal Reserve’s announced intentions to raise their target rate and trim the ballast in the economic tanks. But dang!
Mortgage applications decreased 13.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 18, 2022.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 10 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 6 percent compared with the previous week and was 6 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
The Refinance Index decreased 16 percent from the previous week and was 56.4 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
While the average loan size did not increase this week, it remained close to the survey’s record high.
What The Fed giveth, The Fed can taketh away. Let’s see if Thurston Powell The Great Magician can raise rates and NOT crash the housing and mortgage markets.
