Commentary: The Commerce Department reported this morning that December housing starts fell 4.3% to their lowest level in a year. Although the decline in starts was sharper than expected, the number of building permits filed increased by a much stronger than anticipated 17.0%. Inclement weather probably played a significant role in the soft housing starts number while changes in building codes for 2011 may have contributed in part to the outsized gains in permits as builders hustled to get projects approved before the code changes took effect. In any case, mortgage investors gave this data nothing more than a passing glance.
As they do every Wednesday the Mortgage Bankers of America have released their mortgage application survey for the week ended January 14th. According to the MBA, applications for refinance loans were up 7.7% during the week while home purchase loan demand slipped 1.9% lower. On a national basis refinance requests represent 3 out of every 4 loans currently in process. The average contract for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage finished the week at 4.77%, down by 1 basis point from week ago levels, down by 8 basis points from four weeks ago and down 24 basis points from the year ago mark.
THE MARKET IS ALWAYS RIGHT! . YOU AND I ARE SOME OF THE TIME
