Mortgage rates

Buyers are rushing into the housing market to take advantage of falling borrowing costs. Now, they're facing rising prices.

Refinance application activity last week was the highest in nearly seven years, with more than triple the volume from one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Banks' lowering of origination fees and loosening of underwriting standards often foreshadow a downturn.

Oahu's housing market started a new year on all major positive notes, according to new data that showed median prices and sale volumes rose in January after some weakness last year.

Despite a drop in multifamily loan volume, industrial, health care, office and retail originations pushed overall multifamily and commercial mortgage lending to unprecedented heights, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Consumer sentiment about purchasing a home nears its record high as almost half of those surveyed said mortgage rates will stay at the current low levels, according to Fannie Mae.

A larger percentage of newly originated mortgages to millennials shifted toward purchase loans as interest rates stayed low, according to Ellie Mae.

While loan officers will remain mortgage lenders' leading business development tool in the future, those originators believe business will come from a more diversified source pool, a Fannie Mae survey found.

Mortgage rates continued their slide this week, which along with positive economic news should continue to pump up purchase demand, according to Freddie Mac.

Mortgage application volume increased 5%, led by refinancings, as interest rates continued to fall on fears that the coronavirus was spreading in China and elsewhere, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.