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Clipped by Sam Stamper
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Wednesday, 02 April 2008
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Mortgage Bankers to Report Home-Loan Volume As Lower Rates Send Applications Through the RoofApril 02, 2008: 06:21 AM EST
NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Home-loan data to be released Wednesday will show whether lower interest rates continued to push mortgage applications in the opposite direction.The Mortgage Bankers Association is scheduled to report its index of home-loan application volume for the week ended March 28 at 7 a.m. EDT.The seasonally adjusted index jumped 48.1 percent to 965.9 for the week ended March 21, as borrowers
The seasonally adjusted index jumped 48.1 percent to 965.9 for the week ended March 21, as borrowers took advantage of lower rates to refinance their home loans. Refinancing applications led the boom, growing 82.2 percent, while purchase applications increased by 10.6 percent."The increase in activity is yet another sign that lower interest rates could play a key role in helping the housing market find a bottom," wrote David Resler, chief economist with Nomura Securities.Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, said last Thursday that 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to an average of 5.85 percent nationwide from 5.87 percent a week earlier, the second-straight week in which mortgage rates were below 6 percent.The mortgage bankers' index, which stood at 100 at its onset in March 1990, is derived from a survey of major lenders representing about half of the U.S. mortgages made each week. It does not include loans made by nonbank lenders.The index has fluctuated over the past 18 months after sinking in June 2006 to 529.6, its lowest level since 2002. It peaked at 1,856.7 in May 2003 at the height of the housing boom.The mortgage industry's woes, which started with rising defaults among borrowers with weak credit and spread to better-quality loans, have shuttered dozens of lenders and led to multibillion dollar losses.Europe's largest banks, UBS AG and Deutsche Bank, disclosed Tuesday that they are writing down billions more in bad investments in the U.S. mortgage market. |
