US Mortgage Applications fall by -13.8% for the current week

Mortgage Applications for the current week fell by -13.7%   vs  -1.8% last week.  Within the release the Purchase indes fell by -7.6%   vs  -5.0%  last week.  The  Refinancing Index fell by -16.8%  vs  -0.1% last week.  The average rate for a 30-year mortgage rose to  5.07% from   5.03% last week.  There is that feeling that the buy the dip strategy may be waning a bit.

US Mortgage Applications rose for the 3rd straight month. House Price Index due at 10 AM.

The US Mortgage Applications for the currrent week rose by 2.8%.  Both the Purchase, +1.3% and the Refinance Index, +4.0%, rose in the week.  The average rate on rose to 5.31% for the current week from 5.05% last week.

The housing market is stabilizing but at very low levels.  Housing Starts and Building Permits both rose last week.  At the same time, however, foreclosures remain at record levels. 

This morning despite the Apple earnings, pre market stocks are down. The Dow has move higher for 7 straight days and may be feeling a bit too optimistic at current levels.  Oil prices are down about $0.50.  Gold is near unchanged levels. 

The UK Monetary Policy Committe minutes suggest faster than expected GDP momentum and that CPI may be higher than expectations. They announced they will keep the scale of the purchase program under review. 

At 10 AM the US House Price Index for May will be released.  The  expectation is for a declne of -0.2% for the month.  Last month, prices fell by -0.1%.  House prices remain depressed.  FOMC Bernanke speaks again on Capitol Hill at 10 AM.

In Canada, Retail Sales for the month of May will be announced. The expectation is for a gain of 0.5% after a decline of -0.8% last month.  The trend in the declines have slowed.  Yesterday the BOC kept rates unchanged but warned about the currency gains of late.

The Weekly Mortgage Applications rebounds in the current week

US Weekly Mortgage Applications rose by 10.8%.  The Purchase Index rose by 6.7% rebounding from the -4.5% decline last week.  The Refinance Index rose by 15.2%.  Last week they declined by -30%. 

The average rate on the 30 year mortgage stayed unchanged at 5.34%.

US Mortgage Applications down 11%. Not good news

The 5 week advance in US Mortgage Applications came to an end last week.  The Index fell by 11% with both the Purchase and Refinance indices falling by 11%.  The average rate fell to 4.70% from 4.73%.

This is not a good sign for the spring housing market to see this decline.  Should be bearish for the stock market.

Mortgage Applications rise 4.7%. Purchase index rises by 11%

The Mortgage Applications rose by 4.7% for the week for the 5th increase in a row.  The better news from the report is the Purchase Index rose by 11.1%.    This is the largest week on week gain since Nov 28, 2008 and only the 10th double digit increase since January 2008.  The gain occurred despite the rise in mortgage rate to 4.73% from 4.61%.

As mentioned in the FXDD Today and Tomorrow report from last night (CLICK HERE) and in previous commentary on this site, the weekly Mortgage Application data will be one of the most important economic releases in the coming weeks as the spring/summer housing season gets into full swing. Inventory is still an issue for housing but prices are down and mortgage rates are down making affordability high.  A stabilization of housing can only help an economy which is reeling from increased unemployment.  It will also help stabilize banks who have already written off much of the losses from the housing issue (presumingly) - if the foothold can be maintained.  It is too early to predict a bottom and it would be premature to predict rising housin gprices, but stabilization would be a welcome step forward.