Despite the improvements of a number of housing and economic conditions during recent months, mortgage application activity declined during the week ending April 6, according to one industry group.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Application Survey found that overall activity fell 2.4 percent from the previous week in the wake of fewer purchase and refinance requests. Specifically, the report found that there was a 3.1 percent drop in refinance requests, marking the eighth consecutive week of declines in this sector. As a result, the share of refinances fell to 70.5 percent from 71.2 percent the previous week.
While individual household mortgage application activity declined, the report found that investor activity edged higher in March. As investors continue to capitalize on bargain home prices and government initiatives to unload distressed properties in bulk, these buyers accounted for 8.3 percent of all applications filed last month. In February, this share was notably less at 7.4 percent.
As a result of fewer application requests, the MBA found that the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan balance dipped to 4.1 from 4.16 percent the previous week. Meanwhile, the rate for a 30-year FRM jumbo loan also declined, falling to 4.43 percent. The previous week the rate for this loan was recorded at 4.46 percent.
Meanwhile, a recent housing scorecard from the White House indicated that the mortgage delinquency rate declined in March, as home prices remained relatively flat.
According to President Barack Obama and his administration, the number of seriously delinquent borrowers, meaning more than 90 days late on home loan payments, fell to an estimated 1.7 million, from 1.74 million in February.
"The data this month show that we're making important progress in providing relief to homeowners under the Obama Administration's programs," said Department of Housing and Urban Development assistant secretary Raphael Bostic. "With fewer borrowers falling behind on their mortgages and some 425,000 families taking advantage of our enhanced Home Affordable Refinance Program – standing to save on average $2,500 per year – it's clear that the administration's efforts continue to provide significant positive benefits."
Additionally, the scorecard noted that the number of existing-home sales during the first three months of 2012 remained stable, edging lower to an estimated 382,500 transactions. The previous quarter, there were approximately 385,800 sales of these homes. However, despite the slight decline, the first quarter sales rate was a significant improvement from a year earlier when there were only 351,700 existing-home sales.
As conditions appeared to be stabilizing at the beginning of 2012, a number of industry experts anticipate the the housing market to be much more active during the course of the year.
"When you look at the fact that the last couple of years we have really seen principally first-time home buyers and investors in the market, and we are now beginning to see a return of the move-up market and the second home market," Coldwell Banker Real Estate president and CEO Budge Huskey told U.S. News and World Report. "The fact that those buyers are returning to the market is very much a positive."
In the wake of the housing market collapse, a number of households were forced to put their dreams of buying a home on hold while they waited for conditions to improve. As a result, the rental rates across the country surged, making it more affordable to purchase property than rent in a number of housing markets. Due to this occurrence, a number of experts anticipate many of these consumers previously locked out of the market to try and make the transition to homeownership.
