- New-Home Sales Jump to Highest Level in Over Year
- Consumer Mood Improves, but Anxiety Over Finances
- Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Airlines Hit With Penalties for Stranding Passengers
- Jobless Claims Below 500,000, Durable Orders Slip
- US Said It Will Reduce Emissions by 17% by 2020
- Garlic Price Rises Surpass Gold, Stocks in China
- Judge Erases Couple's $525,000 Mortgage Payment
- Black Friday: Can Banks Tap the Frenzy, Too?
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggest End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- S&P Stocks Trading at New 52-Week Highs
- 4 Food Stocks to Stuff in Your Portfolio: Analyst
- S&P at 1050-1200 Trading Range Next Year: Strategist
- Treasury On Mortgage Modifications
- Blue Jeans Expected to See Another Green Christmas
- Investors Thankful for Gains This Year
- Thanksgiving & the Markets
MOST SHARED
- Ritz-Carlton ?Struggling? in the US: President
- Garlic Price Rises Surpass Gold, Stocks in China
- Half of Banks' Losses May Still Be Hidden: IMF Head
- New-Home Sales Jump 6.2% To Highest Level in Over Year
- Oil Price to Average $75.40 in 2010: Poll
- Jobless Claims Below 500,000, Durable Orders Slip
- Americans Ditch Planes for Trains this Thanksgiving
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Consumer Mood Improves, But Anxiety Over Personal Finances
Text Size 
U.S. mortgage applications rose last week with lower home loan rates spurring demand for home purchases and refinancing, an industry group said on Wednesday.
 |
CNBC.com |
The bounce follows a 6-1/2-year low the previous week in a housing market struggling to gain traction.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted application index rose 3.6 percent to 477.7 in the week ended June 27, as 30-year fixed mortgage rates slipped 0.06 percentage point from a 10-month high to 6.33 percent.
U.S. housing, caught in the worst downturn since the Great Depression, has been stuck in a vicious cycle that extended through the normally buoyant spring sales season.
Until home prices show signs of stabilizing, many economists agree there is little chance that home sales will rebound meaningfully.
Last week, credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's said its 20-city S&P/Case-Shiller home price index's slump deepened in April to stand nearly 18 percent below its July 2006 peak.
The spring months of March, April and May typically draw potential buyers from winter hibernation to start shopping for homes in earnest.
But with home prices falling steadily and record foreclosures pushing more unsold supply on the market, depressing prices further, many buyers remain unwilling to commit to what could be a fast depreciating asset.
Even those who are willing buyers are still finding it difficult to get mortgages approved by lenders who have become more restrictive as mortgage defaults escalate.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index rose 2.8 percent in the latest week to 342.8, well below its reading of 437.3 in the same week a year ago.
The group's seasonally adjusted refinancing index increased 4.7 percent to 1,269.2, compared with 1,687.2 a year earlier.
Print
Email
- Here's how key provisions of the health care reform bill would impact your insurance and how you'll pay for it.
- Playboy will outsource its publishing operations in a bid to become profitable again.
- Remember when auto shows were major events where new models could generate buzz?
- After nine years the NBA’s minor league equivalent is finally coming into its own.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes