US Mortgage Applications Inch Higher

The volume of mortgage applications in the US rose by inched higher by 0.4% from the previous week in the third week of February, extending the 2.8% increase in the earlier period, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The improvement was slight despite the fresh plunge in benchmark mortgage rates, which hit their lowest level in nearly four years, as soft risk appetite drove investors to pile on long-dated Treasury securities this month. Demand for contracts to refinance a mortgage, which are more sensitive to short-term changes in interest rates, jumped 4%. In turn, applications for a mortgage to buy a home fell 5%, with the report reflecting insufficient new supply that drove homebuyers to sit on the sidelines.

The volume of mortgage applications in the US rose by 2.8% from the previous week in the second week of February, trimming the cumulative 20% drop from the declines in the three previous weeks, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The slight improvement was in line with the 4bps decrease in benchmark mortgage rates, testing the 16-month low from late January, aligned with the decline in long-term Treasury securities on expectations of multiple rate cuts by the Fed this year. Demand for contracts to refinance a mortgage, which are more sensitive to short-term changes in interest rates, jumped 7%. In turn, applications for a mortgage to buy a home fell 3%, with the report reflecting insufficient new supply that drove homebuyers to sit on the sidelines.

The volume of mortgage applications in the US inched down by 0.3% from the previous week in the first week of February, holding the cumulative 16.7% drop from the previous two weeks, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The pullback was held despite the sustained drop in mortgage rates on the turn of the month as markets continued to assess how the Freddie Mac and the Fannie Mae would comply with President's Trump order to purchase $200 billion in mortgage-backed securities. Application for a mortgage to purchase a new home fell by 2.4%, holding the 14% plunge in the previous week, when winter storms across the country drove potential buyers to be snowed in. In turn, applications for contracts to refinance a mortgage, which are sensitive to short-term changes in interest rates, rose by 1.1%.