With average 30-year mortgage rates falling by 5 basis points over the past week to a 2011 low of 4.32 percent, mortgage application volume for purchases in the U.S. is running 1.1% lower on a year-over-year basis (down 10.1% week-over-week) while refinancing activity increased 8.0% last week, down 16.3% on a year-over-year basis.
∙ Silver Lining: The Cost Of Mortgage Money Drops [SocketSite]
∙ Mortgage Bankers Association Applications Survey: 8/17/10 [mortgagebankers.org]
borrowing 1m is still borrowing 1m no matter if it’s at 4.32% (conforming only BTW so not even applicable) or 5.32%. Until housing in middle class areas in the Bay Area does not average 1.5m and up for a relatively decent speciman, none of this will change. Alternatively, QE3 will print a ton of money and we’ll agree that prices haven’t fallen when in real terms they will have collapsed.