Demand For Mortgages Rises: Is This A Good Sign?
April 9th, 2010 categories: Economic Recovery, For Buyers, For Homeowners, For Sellers
As a REALTOR®, I’m constantly scanning the financial news looking for indications of the health of the local and national real estate markets. Starting with the last half of 2009, it’s been far easier to find studies and statistics that point to an improving residential real estate market.
For instance, there was this news from the Mortgage Bankers Association: Mortgage applications in the United States rose in late March for the first time in three weeks. In fact, demand for home-purchase loans reached their highest levels since October, according to a story on the Web site of Fox Business.
This is definitely a good sign for both the national and local housing markets. As the Fox Business story rightly points out, if this figure continues to rise, it will indicate good things for the busy spring home-selling season.
According to the Bankers’ numbers, the seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications – a figure that includes both purchase and refinance mortgage loans – jumped 1.3 percent for the week that ended on March 26. The trade group also reported that the four-week moving average of mortgage applications was up 2.2 percent.
Again, this is good news for spring. As the weather warms, especially in cities like Chicago that experience harsh winters, home sales tend to rise. If homebuyers are preparing for spring by getting pre-approved for mortgage loans, it’s a good sign that they are serious about buying homes during this season. And as more homes sell, the odds increase that sale prices will stabilize, too. This, of course, would be great news for sellers.
Of course, the Mortgage Bankers study is just one indicator. But the more I search for news from the real estate industry, the more I find that there are plenty of encouraging signs out there. It’s a nice change of pace from the days of real estate gloom-and-doom. We’re certainly not back to a thriving housing market, yet. But there are signs that we’re heading in the right direction.
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