Mortgage application volume continues to decline

July 17, 2013

Fed Chairman Bernanke’s speech to the House Financial Services Committee was released this morning saying that that the Fed’s asset purchases are by no means on a preset course. Mr. Bernanke went on to say that Bond buying could be reduced at faster pace, a slower pace, or even increased for a time, depending on outlook and they could begin later this year.

Housing Starts declined by nearly 10% in June from May to 836,000 units annualized and below 958,000 expected to the lowest level since August 2012. The drop was attributed towards a big decrease in apartments. Building Permits, a sign of future construction, fell by 7.7% to 911,000 and below the 1 million expected.

Mortgage application volume continues to decline as the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today that its Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume, fell by 2.6% in the latest week. The refi index declined by 4.2% while the purchase index rose marginally by 0.5%. The slowdown in application volume could be attributed towards the recent rise in home loan rates.