Mortgage Apps: Mortgage Apps Gain in January

January 22, 2020
Bottom Line: Lower rates in 2019 and to start 2020 appear to be aiding purchasers in this tight market. After two very strong weeks of mortgage application data, a separate report from the realtors showed applications barely declined last week. The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage held below 3.90%. Overall, applications for purchases have been very strong to start 2020. The MBA Mortgage Applications Index FELL by 1.2% during the week ended January 17 to 606.2, sharply above its 13 week average of 527.8 and 51.3% ABOVE its year ago level. The Purchase Index FELL by 2.0% to 297.8, sharply above its 13 week average of 265.4 and 9.3% ABOVE its year ago level. The Refinance Index FELL by 1.8% to 2,402. With this decline, refinancing activity is sharply above its 13 week average of 2,061 and 116.3% ABOVE its year ago level. Contract Mortgage Rates were MIXED with the 30-year fixed rate unchanged at 3.87% and with the 15-year fixed rate declining by 5 bps to 3.25%.