Florida Home Loan Applications Rise

Florida mortgage applications rose last week after five straight weekly declines, as lower home loan rates fostered both home purchases and refinancing activity.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said that its home mortgage applications index climbed by a seasonally adjusted 3.6 percent in the week ended April 20 to 653.3, its highest level since the week ending March 23.

Thirty-year, fixed-rate Florida mortgages averaged 6.13 percent, excluding fees, down 0.09 percent from the prior week and 0.39 percent below the rates quoted in the same week a year ago.

The purchase index, considered a timely gauge of Florida mortgage activity and of home sales in the Sunshine State, increased 3.7 percent to 411.0, and its refinancing gauge rose 3.6 percent to 2,081.6.

The share of overall home loan activity designated for Florida mortgage refinancing purposes also gained ground over the past seven days.

Rising Florida home loan applications could help work through some of the hefty housing inventory that sits unsold on the market - and that most economists say is impeding a sustained housing recovery.

Nationally, sales of existing homes in March staged their biggest monthly drop in over 18 years, sliding by 8.4 percent, the National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday.

The trade group pointed to frigid winter weather that kept buyers at bay.

It was also the eighth straight month that the national median home price fell. Homes lingering on the market unsold swelled to a 7.3-month supply, nearing this housing cycle’s peak of 7.4 months seen last October.

In a separate sign that the housing picture remains dim, prices of existing U.S. single-family homes fell in February at a pace last seen almost 15 years ago, according to a home price index on Tuesday.

SOURCE: Reuters