Mortgage Applications Heat Up After Holiday Lull

Mortgage Applications Heat Up After Holiday Lull Housing News Update Mortgage application activity roared out of the gate in the first week of the New Year, as the country got back down to business. Much of the week's gain could probably be attributed to consumers catching up after the usual holiday induced December slowdown. Applications for both refinancing and home purchasing were up substantially during the week ended January 5. It was, in fact, the strongest week for refinancing applications since mid-July. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index, a measure of loan applications volume, increased 8.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis and rose 46 percent compared with the week ended December 29 on an unadjusted basis. The week's report included an adjustment to account for the New Years Holiday. MBA said there was also a revision of unspecified degree to the December 29 report. There was a 5 percent increase in the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index compared to the previous week while the unadjusted index was 44 percent higher. The unadjusted index was down 1 percent relative to the same week in 2017. The Refinance Index increased 11 percent from the previous week. The share of applications that were for refinancing increased from 52.1 percent to 52.9 percent.