Mortgage applications

Mortgage application activity increased from the prior week, driven by strong refinance volume after a 35-basis-point drop in conforming loan interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

There was a nearly 30% week-to-week decline in loan applications as Americans reacted to the uncertainty, both economic and medical, from the spread of COVID-19, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Additional mortgage-backed securities purchases by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will address private investor skittishness about the asset class, but it will not necessarily lower rates.

Refinancing activity is surging, existing borrowers are inquiring about loan modifications, loan closings are being delayed by more complex credit checks — and banks are short on people to handle it all.

Mortgage application volume decreased 8.4% compared with one week earlier as lenders managed activity by raising rates even as 10-year Treasury yields fell below 1%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage applications to purchase new homes took a small step back in February from record levels during the previous month, but further positive momentum could be blunted by the coronavirus.

Paradoxically, mortgage rates actually increased this past week, even as the 10-year Treasury yield plumbed new depths, likely because lenders are too busy to handle the influx of applications.

The Mortgage Bankers Association raised its refinance projections for 2020, a move precipitated by an application volume increase of 55.4% from one week earlier.

Mortgage interest rates dropped this week to the lowest level on record, fueling an already hot spring housing market and triggering a refinance boom in the Twin Cities.

Mortgage rates hit their lowest point since Freddie Mac began tracking this data in 1971, as the 10-year Treasury yield fell below 1% after the Federal Open Market Committee's surprise short-term rate cut.