Buyers Boosted Mortgage Application Volume Last Week

Mortgage application volume grew 2.5 percent last week, urged on solely by purchase applications, and ending two weeks of volume drops, reports the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Homebuyers applying for mortgages accounted for seven percent growth over the past week, and eight percent YOY. Some experts say that this may signal some relief for the market's supply shortage. “Even though inventories continue to decline, they are doing so at a slower pace. While buyers continue to see fewer homes available for sale, the decline was smaller than we've seen in previous months,” Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com, tells CNBC. “Before we see inventories increase, we need to see them slow, and the data has shown four months of deceleration (smaller year-over-year declines)." Total volume is still down, however, 4.3 percent year-over-year.

On the other hand, higher interest rates have kept the refinancing business very low. Mortgage applications to refinance a home loan fell 4 percent for the week – to the lowest level since December 2000. Refinance volume is nearly 21 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to its lowest level since August 2008, 34.8 percent of total applications, from 37.2 percent the previous week. Even a slight drop in mortgage rates did nothing to bring refinancers to the table.

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