With home mortgage rates continuing to hover near record lows, mortgage application volume jumped 3.8% last week according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinance activity rose 6% from the previous week marking a level over 88% than this time last year. Refinance share’s of the application volume accounted for 68.7% of total applications this past week  while we saw a small dip in purchase applications, falling 1%. Purchase applications are still 25% higher than the same week a year ago.

 

• The FHA’s share of applications fell to 11.1% from 11.7%.
• The VA share of applications increased to 12.2% from 11.4%.

After two weeks of slight declines, mortgage applications regained their footing last week, rising 1.7% from the previous week. The refinance numbers led this rebound by increasing over 3% from the week prior. Refinances are now making up 66.7% of mortgage application volume. Purchase applications rose only 0.2% this past week, but remained 24% higher than this time last year.

 

• The FHA’s share of mortgage applications fell to 11.7% from 11.8%.
• The VA share of applications fell to 11.4% from 12.6%.

Mortgage application volume stayed relatively stagnant this week but did see a small decrease, down 0.7% from the week prior according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. After hitting their highest levels since mid-August the week before, refinance volume experienced a slight 0.3% decrease this past week, but still remained 44% higher than this time last year. Almost 2/3 of home mortgage loan applications were for refinances in this last seven days.

 

• The FHA’s share of mortgage applications fell to 10.7% from 11%.
• The VA share of applications rose to 13.4% rom 12.2%.

After falling 4.8% the week prior, mortgage applications numbers have almost completely rebounded last week, gaining 4.6% according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Numbers in the refinance market also rose 8% hitting its highest levels since the middle of August, while making up 65.4% of total mortgage applications. Year-over-year purchase applications are un 21% marking the 20th straight week of year-over-year gains.

 

• The FHA’s share of mortgage applications fell to 11% from 11.4%.
• The VA share of applications rose to 12.2% from 11.9%.

Despite the economic roller coaster of 2020, home prices have continued to rise this year. With home mortgage rates at all-time lows, more buyers have entered the market creating competition for a low inventory of homes. While home prices rising during an economic downturn is not unusual, the house price appreciation we’ve seen this year is more dramatic than during any economic decline in the recent past. As sellers become worried about lower prices, they take their homes off market causing a decrease in supply, creating a shortage. This shortage will in turn cause prices to rise as buyers compete for limited inventory. If home mortgage rates continue to remain low, more buyers will enter the housing market to compete for the small amount of homes currently available driving up home prices even further. This raises the question, will some buyers be priced out of the market?

 

Over the past few months inventory across the country has continued to be low, causing a rise in home prices. A wide variety of factors are causing the spike in demand among home buyers, including record low mortgage rates and the wave of millennials who were on the verge of buying pre-COVID. High demand mixed with already low inventory is causing the spike in home prices the market is currently seeing. While rising prices may be a burden for buyers, it’s great news for sellers and other homeowners. The uptick in prices contributes to the growing amount of equity owners have in their homes. Pre-pandemic home prices were growing moderately and so far that continues to be the case, despite negative forces unleashed by the labor market turmoil. As the labor levels return to early 2020 levels, the demand for housing may increase even further. As the housing market competition heats up, it’s important for prospective buyers to come to the negotiating table with pre-qualified offers to differentiate themselves from other buyers offers.

Home mortgage loan application numbers experienced a slight downturn this week falling by 4.8% according to a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Leading this dip, was a 7% decline in refinance numbers, which included a 9% drop in conventional refinance applications. Refinance volume remains 52% higher right now than it was this time in 2019. Purchase home mortgage loans made up 36.7% this past week, which is slightly higher than last week’s volume.

 

• The FHA’s share of mortgage applications rose to 11.4% from 10.1%
• The VA share of applications fell to 11.9% from 12%

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) will officially go public later this year at a whopping $16.1 billion valuation. D&V Home Mortgage has partnered with United Wholesale Mortgage since we opened in 2015 and we are extremely excited to be one of their broker partners. United Wholesale Mortgage is the largest player in the U.S. wholesale mortgage market operating solely in the wholesale space. What this means is that they are a lender who only servicers brokers and does not participate in retail lending directly to the customer. UWM likes the broker model because it allows them to control their customer acquisition costs and reduces their vulnerability in a cyclical mortgage market. In 2019, the company’s share of the mortgage market was 4.6%. This number is expected to rise to 6.7% in 2020 and is projected to reach 9.2% by 2022.