Mortgage loan application volumes in the U.S. dropped another 8.3 percent over the past week on a seasonally adjusted basis and 7 percent in the absolute, with a 9 percent drop in applications to refinance and a 7 percent drop in purchase activity, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
On a year-over-year basis, applications to refinance were down 71 percent and purchase applications were down 17 percent with the benchmark 30-year mortgage rate having hit a 12-year high.
From the MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting, none of which should catch any plugged-in readers by surprise: “Prospective homebuyers have pulled back this spring, as they continue to face limited options of homes for sale along with higher costs from increasing mortgage rates and prices. The recent decrease in purchase applications is an indication of potential weakness in home sales in the coming months.”
In terms of options, keep in mind that new home inventory in the U.S. is nearing a 14-year high while the number of homes on the market in San Francisco proper has ticked back up to an 11-year seasonal high, with 18 percent more homes on the market than there were at this time last year, 70 percent more than there were prior to the pandemic and over twice as many as there were at the end of April in 2015.