Housing Data In The Red On Wednesday
Chicago, IL (PRWEB) February 19, 2015 -- Lenders like Peoples Home Equity noted that it was an all down day for housing data released on Wednesday, February 18th. Weekly mortgage applications fell -13.2%, monthly housing starts fell 2.02%, and monthly building permits also fell -0.66%.
The first data released on Wednesday morning was weekly mortgage applications for the week ending on 2/13. According to Mike Fratanoni, MBA’s Chief Economis t, the dismal report was blamed on the fact that “Mortgage rates increased to their highest level since the beginning of the year last week, and application volume dropped sharply as a result, particularly for refinances.”
Purchase activity gained share as “the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 66 percent of total applications from 69 percent the previous week.” As mortgage rates increased, “the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.3 percent of total applications.” Still, Peoples Home Equity wants readers to know that all types of loans from 15 year terms to 30 year terms were being offered for rates less than 4%.
Just after weekly application numbers were released, housing starts and builder permits were announced by the U.S. Census Bureau. Housing starts fell from 1,087 thousand in December 2014 to 1,065 in January 2015. However, one should remember that housing starts surged 7% from November 2014 to December 2014. Regardless of the monthly decline, housing starts were 18.7% higher than they were in January 2014 at 897 thousand. Peoples Home Equity does not take a negative view of the minimal drop in building permits for January. Building permits were stagnant at 1,060 thousand for November and December of 2014 the slight drop to 1,053 thousand is just reflective of the winter slump months. One should also remember Monday’s NAHB Housing Market Index which showed that builder sentiment declined in both January and February. Based on this sentiment one should not expect a great housing starts and buildering permit report for February when its released.
If in need of a mortgage, contact a Peoples Home Equity loan officer today at: 262-563-4026
Giorgio Urbano Ferrero, The Federal Savings Bank, https://www.thefederalsavingsbank.com, +1 8473386062, [email protected]
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