First Week of the New Year Sees Mortgage Application Volume Jump

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...

Mortgage Application Volume Drops Over Holidays

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...

Mortgage Application Volume Drops for Second Straight Week

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....

Home Mortgage Application Numbers Drop During Holiday Week

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....

FHFA Increases Conforming Loan Limits for 2021

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...

Mortgage Application Volume Hits New High

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...