Mortgage rates

Sales of new homes cooled in April from an 11-year high amid a surge in prices, adding to signs of softness in housing at the start of the quarter.

The decline in average mortgage rates since the start of the year is driving higher purchase demand, especially at the higher end of the market, according to Freddie Mac.

With mortgage rates falling to their lowest level in over a year, refinance volume drove this week's increase in application activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Sales of previously owned homes unexpectedly cooled in April, the fifth drop in six months, signaling a rocky start for the housing market this quarter amid a still-tight supply of available properties.

The era of plentiful refinance volume is over for the foreseeable future, because mortgage rates remained in a very narrow band for the past decade, said Mortgage Bankers Association Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni.

Single-family home prices in Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties changed course, climbing up in April after falling year-over-year in March.

Mortgage activity plunged before the start of the year, but subprime originations dropped the least, according to TransUnion. Despite dwindling volume, borrower delinquency rates hit historic lows in the first quarter.

Mortgage rates descended through the onset of spring's home buying season, pushing up the share of refinance loans and volume of new-home purchase applications, according to Ellie Mae and the MBA.

Even if the U.S. economy slows during the rest of 2019, the outlook for the housing and mortgage market remains strong, said economists at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

New-home construction rose for a second month and topped estimates in April in a sign of positive momentum for the housing sector at the start of the second quarter.