Mortgage applications decreased 1.15 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 4, 2020. The previous week’s results included an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Refinance Index increased 1.75 percent from the previous week and was 89 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5.02 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 28.6 percent compared with the previous week and was 22 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
“Refinance activity increased last week in response to mortgage rates for 30-year, 15-year, and FHA loans hitting their lowest levels in MBA’s survey. The increase in refinance applications was driven by FHA and VA refinances, while conventional activity fell slightly. The ongoing refinance wave has continued through the fall, with activity last week up 89 percent from a year ago,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “The purchase market is also poised to finish 2020 on a strong note. Applications fell slightly last week but were around 3 percent higher than the two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Reversing the recent trend, there was also a shift in the composition of purchase applications, with an increase in government loans pushing the average loan balance lower.”
Here is a chart of seasonally-adjusted mortgage purchase applications.
Is this a start to another “Sanders Polynomial?”
It depends on how long The Fed keeps priming the monetary pump.
