Mortgage Applications up Last week

Everyone join in with me and say the following:

"I will not base my perceptions of my own personal real estate market on what the news media is reporting nationwide. I will not base my perceptions of my own personal real estate market on what the news media is reporting nationwide."

I almost didn't post this because of that very statement, but I figured good news being reported is ok. The fact of the matter is, the real estate market is not terrible in all parts of the country. Sure, it is struggling in some areas, but that is more of a market correction than anything else. There is no way some of the markets could stay as red hot as they were.

I will tell you this as well, and it's something that's not being reported. The subprime fallout, which has been bad, is not the cause of the housing crunch. The downturn in some of the areas of the country would have happened regardless. It's economics 101 people. The subprime market made up what, 16% of all mortgages? (my numbers are off here, but I'm pretty close) This had more to do with people in general purchasing homes they couldn't afford, subprime or not. It had to do with an amazing demand for housing that pushed housing prices above and beyond what they should have been and now the market is correcting itself.

Here where I live, in Central Texas, we have a very strong housing market. If you would like a referral for a good mortgage or real estate person, just let me know. I know these professionals in all parts of the country and I'd be more than happy to give you some names.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/09/real_estate/mortgage_applications.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008010907

Mortgage applications up last week
Mortgage Bankers Association's index says number of new requests for home loans soared 32.2% during the shortened holiday week.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Mortgage application volume skyrocketed 32.2 percent during the holiday-shortened week ending Jan. 4, ending three consecutive weeks of sharp declines, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey.

The MBA's application index jumped to 706 from 533.9 the previous week, which was also a holiday-shortened week because of Christmas. The index can be more volatile around the holidays, as volume tends to be smaller and seasonal adjustments are made. During the same period the previous year, the application index jumped 16.6 percent.

Application volume is still 13 percent less than it was four weeks earlier when it began a run of steady declines. The index stood at 811.8 for the week ending Dec. 7.

Refinance volume increased 53.9 percent during the week ending Jan. 4, while purchase volume jumped 14.7 percent. Refinance applications accounted for 57.7 percent of total applications, compared with 50.9 percent the previous week.

The index peaked at 1,856.7 during the week ending May 30, 2003, at the height of the housing boom.

An index value of 100 is equal to the application volume on March 16, 1990, the first week the MBA tracked application volume. A reading of 706 means mortgage application activity is 7.06 times higher than it was when the MBA began tracking the data.

The survey provides a snapshot of mortgage lending activity among mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. It covers about 50 percent of all residential retail mortgage originations each week.

Application volume jumped while fixed interest rates tumbled. The average interest rate for traditional, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 5.73 percent from 6.05 percent the previous week. The average interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, which are often used to refinance mortgages, dropped to 5.21 percent from 5.61 percent the prior week.

Rates for one-year adjustable rates rose slightly to 6.04 percent from 6 percent.