It’s spring again. Not that it feels like it, but the spring buying season appears to have finally started. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage applications for home purchases increased by 6% last week from the prior week. 
And despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the purchase volume was simply 1.5% lower than one year ago, 2019. This represents a huge spike from the purchase volume from just six weeks ago, when the purchase volume was actually down from 2019 levels.
The momentum for home purchase applications continues to increase week-over-week for the last five weeks. In some cases purchase applications are 5% higher than a year ago as in the case of FHA, VA, and USDA loans.
A great deal of this momentum has to do with the pent-up demand, the low interest rates and an expectation that the economy is about to reopen.
What appears to be slightly different within the market is the move of many buyers to purchase homes away from downtown urban centers. The single family home market appears to have come back strong.
Refinance applications though for current homeowners fell by 6% from the prior week, yet are 160% higher than this time in 2019.
The share of refinance mortgage activity fell to 64.3% of total applications, down from 67% from the prior week.
If you have any questions about this information or title insurance, please contact Ralph Aponte: 732.914.1400.
Counsellors Title Agency, www.counsellorstitle.net, founded in 1996, is one of New Jersey’s most respected title agencies, serving all 21 New Jersey counties with title insurance, clearing title, escrow, tidelands searches, and closing and settlement services for commercial or industrial properties, waterfront properties and marinas, condominiums, townhouses or residential single family homes. Counsellors Title also features its own Attorney Settlement Assistance Program™ [ASAP], which is an individual resource customized to fit the needs specifically of real estate attorneys, including, Documentation, Preparation, Disbursement of Funds, Attendance at Closing, HUD Preparation or Post-Closing Matters.
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