The drop in the number of mortgage applications for the last week doesn’t seem to be resulting in a softening of the real estate market.

Housing Market

Mortgage Bankers Association reported that total mortgage application volume increased 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week from the previous week.

While applications are significantly below what they were this time in 2015, the 23% drop in applications is basically due to the drop in loan refinancings, which are 40% lower than 2016. The higher rates are seen as being the primary reason for the falloff.

Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose 2% last week and are 3.6% higher than a year ago. Buyer demand remains unflinchingly steady.

It will be interesting to see how many new sellers venture into the market, considering the number of homeowers who have moved into the black.