A home for sale in Sarasota, Florida
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Thanksgiving week is usually not a popular time to buy homes, but most of the economic data this year is unparalleled, especially in the pandemic-hit real estate market.
Mortgage applications for home purchases rose 9% in the past week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally and holiday-adjusted index. The purchase requests were an impressive 28% higher than in the previous year.
“Purchasing activity continued to show impressive year-over-year growth, with both conventional and government markets seeing another week of growth,” said Joel Kan, vice president of economic and industrial forecasting for MBA. “Demand for residential property remains strong, and despite extremely tight inventory levels and rising prices, home sales are at their highest in over a decade.”
With prices soaring, the average purchase loan amount last week was $ 375,000, the largest since the MBA survey began in 1990. In addition to giving buyers emotional incentives, low mortgage rates give buyers more purchasing power and help prices increase.
The average contract rate on 30-year fixed rate mortgages with compliant loan balances ($ 510,400 or less) was unchanged last week at 2.92%, a record low, with the points of 0.35 (including the origination fee) for loans at 0.31 0.31 decreased a deposit of 20%. This rate was 105 basis points higher a year ago.
Home loan refinance requests fell 5% over the week but were an impressive 102% higher than a year ago.
“The ongoing wave of refinancing has been beneficial for homeowners looking to cut their monthly payments during these troubled economic times of the pandemic,” Kan said, adding that the mortgage industry is facing its strongest year since 2003.