For the second week in a row, home mortgage application volume was down. Last week mortgage application volume dropped 4.1% despite being up 83% year-over-year. The second consecutive week of application volume decreases comes as mortgage rates see a slight uptick to close January.

 

• The FHA’s share of mortgage application volume increased to 9.4% from 9.3% the previous week.
• The VA’s share of mortgage applications decreased tp 12.4% from 13.8% the previous week.

Home mortgage application volume dipped 1.9% this past week after jumping 16.7% week-over-week the period prior. This dip was paced by a 5% drop in refinance activity. Despite last weeks slight drop, as the start to 2021 continues, we should see strong mortgage application numbers for both first time and repeat home buyers.

 

• FHA’s share of mortgage application volume decreased to 9.3% of total application volume this past week.
• VA’s share of mortgage application volume increased to 15.8% of total application volume during the same period.

In the first week of 2021, mortgage application volume jumped 16.7% according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. This comes as no surprise as year after year the market sees a jump in mortgage application volume to begin January after a slow finish to the year  prior due to the holiday season. An increase in refinance volume has once again been a major factor in rising application numbers, bringing them to the highest level since March of 2020.

 

• FHA’s share of mortgage applications dropped to 9.6% from 10.1% the week before.
• VA’s share of mortgage applications increased by 2.2% from last week, reaching 15.8%.

According to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage application volume was down 4.2% from two weeks ago. Every year during the holidays, home mortgage application volume dips slightly so this decrease comes as no surprise. The FHA’s share of total mortgage application volume remained unchanged from last week coming in at 10.1%. The VA share of total home mortgage application volume increased to 13.6% from 12.1% the week prior.

According to a weekly report from the Mortgage Bankers Association, application volume decreased 1.2% during the past week. This marks the second straight week that home mortgage application numbers have dropped. Refinance volume did increase by 2% week-over-week, hitting a 89% increase in volume from 2019. The highest level of refinance volume came from FHA and VA refinances, while conventional refinances slipped slightly.

 

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that applications dropped 0.6% during the week of Thanksgiving. The mortgage refinance index decreased also, dropping 5% from the previous week but was still up 102% over the last year. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 69.5% of total application volume from 71.1% the previous week. Purchase activity continued to show impressive year-over-year gains according the the MBA’s associate vice president of industry and economic forecasting.

 

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced the maximum conforming loan limits for mortgages would be increasing in 2021. The new loan limits for one-unit properties will be $548,250, increasing from the 2020 limit of $510,400. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) requires that the baseline confirming loan limit be adjusted each year for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reflect the average U.S. home price. According to the seasonally adjusted Housing Price Index, home prices increased 7.42% between the third quarters of 2019 and 2020, therefore the conforming loan limit will increase the same amount. Areas of the country in which 115% of the local median home value exceeds the baseline CLL, the maximum loan limit will be higher than the baseline loan limit. HERA establishes the maximum loan limit in those areas as a multiple of the area median home value, while setting a “ceiling” on that limit of 150% of the baseline loan limit.

After two weeks of small decreases, the mortgage application numbers have increased 3.9% over the past week according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The refinance application volume jumped even higher, hitting a 5% increase last week and is now up 79% over last year’s totals from the same week. Refinances are now making up 71.1% of total mortgage applications. This week continued the over six month period of purchase activity being up over the same time last year.

Total home mortgage application volume dipped 0.5% last week after a 3.8% jump to end October according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, the refinance volume increased by 1% from the previous week and is over 67% higher than this time in 2019. This 1% week-over-week increase is the highest increase in refinance applications since August of this year. Homebuying demand in total is up over 16% from last year, and would likely be even higher should more available homes be listed for sale to decrease competition.

 

• The FHA’s share of mortgage applications fell to 10.6% from 11.1%.
• The VA share of applications increased to 12.6% from 12.2%.