Houston's Rate Sheet

Mortgage apps continue to rise

For the third straight week, mortgage applications continued to climb. This is a result of the lowest Interest Rates we've seen since October. This is obviously good news for the industry, let's hope the good times roll into the spring and summer. Here are the details as reported by CNNMoney.com:

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended Jan. 20 increased 7.7 percent to 660.5 from the previous week's 613.3

The group's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications increased 7.8 percent to 1,773.9, compared with 1,645.2 the previous week. The index increased for a fourth consecutive week.
Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 6.04 percent, down 0.03 of a percentage point from the previous week's 6.07 percent, marking its seventh consecutive weekly decline. Rates were at their lowest level since the week ended Oct. 7, when they reached 5.98 percent.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase mortgage index increased 6.7 percent to 473.7, erasing a slide of 3 percent the prior week. The index is considered a timely gauge on U.S. home sales.

posted by Vincent Biondillo @ 9:13 AM