Florida Mortgage Applications Decline This Week Despite Continued Low Rates

Florida mortgage applications fell last week for the first time in four weeks, showing a drop in demand for refinancing even as interest rates hover near historic lows.

Home mortgage application activity for the week ending March 16, including both refinancing and home purchase loans, fell 2.7 percent.

The four-week moving average of Florida mortgage applications, less volatile than the weekly figures, was still up 2.5 percent.

Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate Florida mortgages, not including points, averaged 6.06 percent, up 0.03 percent from the previous week.

Florida mortgage rates, meanwhile, were also significantly below their year-ago levels of 6.31 percent.

Rapidly rising defaults in the bad credit mortgage market, which caters to risky home loan applicants, and myriad problems among lenders may finally be taking their toll on home sales.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index of mortgage refinance applications slipped 4.5 percent to 2,208.6. A year earlier the index stood at 1,574.5.

In the Sunshine State, the share of total applications dedicated to Florida mortgage refinancing fell to 45.3 percent from 46.2 percent a week earlier.

Fixed 15-year mortgage rates averaged 5.79 percent, slightly up from 5.78 percent. Rates on one-year ARMs increased to an average 5.88 percent from 5.86.

The adjustable-rate share of overall Florida mortgage activity slipped to 20.9 percent from 21.9 percent the previous week.

SOURCE: USA Today