Tag Archives: Mortgage Bankers Association

The pace of new home sales plunged in March to their lowest level in eight months, driving down hopes of a seasonal renewal in housing activity. Monthly data released Wednesday by HUD and the Census Bureau shows sales of new homes last month plummeting 14.5 percent from February to an estimated seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 384,000. The last time transactions ran so low was last July, when they came to 383,000.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released on Wednesday its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, reporting a 4.3 percent improvement in loan application volume for the week ending April 11. The headline index was boosted by a 7 percent gain in MBA’s measure of refinance applications, which has been weak over the past few weeks as rising mortgage rates drain the pool of remaining potential refinances.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released Tuesday its Builder Application Survey for last month, with data showing a 15 percent month-over-month increase in new home purchase applications. Using application from the survey and other market assumptions, MBA estimates sales of new single-family homes in March ran at an adjusted annualized rate of 479,000 units, a decrease of 10.1 percent from February’s anticipated pace of 533,000.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 1.6 percent decline in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 4. Week-over-week, MBA’s Refinance Index fell 5 percent, declining to its lowest level since the end of last year. Purchase home mortgage activity was healthier last week compared to the week prior, coming up 3 percent.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) increased 0.44 percent last month to 114.0, the group reported Tuesday, indicating a loosening of credit. “Consistent with past months, many lenders and investors are providing borrowers seeking higher loan amounts with a broader range of financing options by introducing new jumbo loan programs,” explained MBA chief economist Mike Fratantoni.

Compiling weekly survey results from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), macroeconomic research firm Capital Economics calculated a 2.9 percent drop in total application volume in March following a meek 0.1 percent increase in February. On the home purchase side, applications came up an estimated 2.7 percent over March (1 percent in the final week) but remained down 16.8 percent year-over-year.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Performance Report for Q4, independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of chartered banks took in an average profit of $150 on each loan they originated, a record low. That number was down from $743 per loan in Q3. “Fourth-quarter production profits were at their lowest levels since [the] inception of the Performance Report in 2008,” said Marina Walsh, MBA’s VP of industry analysis.

A sharp drop in refinance application volume last week more than offset a pickup in purchase applications, resulting in a net loss, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage application volume, dropped 3.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending March 21. The decline followed a revised 0.2 percent increase the week prior.

Last week saw another tumble in mortgage applications despite a slight fallback in interest rates, according to weekly data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of loan application volume, fell 1.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending March 14. On an unadjusted basis, the index dropped 1 percent compared to the previous week.

David Stevens, President & CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association , joins the show to discuss an “economic wealth gap being created in terms of access to homeownership”. ...