Mortgage Applications Decline

Though 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are at an all-time low, purchases hit their lowest levels since 2015, a 31-percent decrease from the same year-ago period.

The Mortgage Bankers Association also reported that, for the week ended April 17, mortgage applications decreased 0.3 percent from the prior week, while refinancing dropped by one percent. 

 “The pandemic-related economic stoppage has caused some buyers and sellers to delay their decisions until there are signs of a turnaround,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, in a press release. “This has resulted in reduced buyer traffic, less inventory, and March existing-homes sales falling to their slowest annual pace in nearly a year.”

Read the MBA release here.