Eye On Housing
Author Archives
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Refinance Poised for Further Rate Declines
The latest results from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Application Survey for the week ending September 4 show an increase of 2.9% in the Market Composite Index from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis. Purchasing and refinancing activity increased from the previous week by 2.6% and 3%, respectively. MBA’s tracked contract rate of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage… Read More ›
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Open-Ended Credit Slowly Recovers in July
The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through July 2020. Consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.6% from the previous month, with revolving debt1 decreasing by slightly less than 0.5% and nonrevolving debt2 increasing by 4.8 percent. Consumer credit totaled $4.1 trillion on a… Read More ›
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Treasury-Mortgage Spread Decreases in August
The month of August, in terms of the spread between the 10-year U.S. Treasury rate and the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate, was characterized by weekly declines, only to rise slightly by the first week of September. The 10-year U.S. Treasury rate is the rate that the U.S. government is willing and obligated to pay on the 10-year Treasury note, thus… Read More ›
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Mortgage Application Activity Tapers in August
The last weeks in August finished with subdued mortgage activity, per the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Weekly Application Survey. However, demand remains strong: Overall mortgage activity was 35% higher than what it was the same week one year ago. For the week ending August 28, 2020, the Market Composite Index decreased 2% from one week prior on a seasonally adjusted… Read More ›
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Suburban Shift for Home Building in Q2 2020
The Q2 2020 results of NAHB’s Home Building Geography Index (HBGI) show geographical trends of the home building industry as the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, spread quickly through the United States. Although the pandemic caused widespread economic impacts for many businesses, housing has weathered the economic storm, rebounding quickly from an April slump. Moreover, data from the second quarter NAHB HBGI… Read More ›
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Q2 2020 National Delinquency Survey
Amid widespread job losses and other economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, all the U.S. states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia experienced quarterly percentage increases in home loans past due, according to the seasonally adjusted Q2 2020 results of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Q2 2020 National Delinquency Survey. In the second quarter of this year, on… Read More ›
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Q2 2020 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey
The Federal Reserve’s latest release of the Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey shows banks’ lending practices and households and businesses’ demand for various classes of loans as of the second quarter of 2020. As evidenced in the survey, in the wake of the COVID-19-wrought pandemic, widespread economic hardship caused many banks to tighten their standards across all credit classes of… Read More ›
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Amid Record Low Rates, Refinancing Flourishes
Over the last two weeks, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s tracked 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average rate fell by 14 basis points to 3.06%, a new record low in the series. At the same time, the results from its Weekly Application Survey show both weekly and year-over-year percentage increases in purchasing and refinancing activities. On a seasonally adjusted basis, purchasing activity increased… Read More ›
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Nonrevolving Debt Fuels June Consumer Credit
The Federal Reserve’s latest G.19 Consumer Credit Report shows trends in consumer credit, excluding loans secured by real estate, through June 2020. In June, consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.6% from the previous month, with revolving debt1 decreasing by 2.8% and nonrevolving debt2 increasing by 4.3 percent. Consumer credit totaled $4.1 trillion on a seasonally… Read More ›
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Treasury and Mortgage Rate Spread Widens in July
The month of July witnessed a sustained downward trend in the 10-year U.S. Treasury, as it dipped below 0.6%. Despite the downward trend of Treasuries, which are a proxy measure of the risk-free rate that the government offers on debt, mortgage rates through July did not decrease proportionately. The spread between the 10-year Treasury and the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate… Read More ›