The latest round of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Application Survey showed an increase in its benchmark Market Composite Index for the week ending on June 5 by 9.3% from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Refinancing activity, which had been showing week-to-week declines since the second week of April, showed a sharp turnaround this week and posted an 11.4% gain compared to the previous week’s activity. Home purchasing continued its climb, posting gains for the eighth straight week, increasing from the previous week by 5.3%.
This week’s purchasing activity marked the highest level since January. Meanwhile, MBA’s 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rate inched up one basis point from the record low reached last week of 3.37%. This suggests a cautionary stance among many lenders as the economy prepares for a relatively more V-shaped recovery from the COVID-19-induced slump.
As shown in the above figure, the declines in refinancing and purchasing activities’ year-over-year gains from the previous week, while nonetheless positive, are indicative of the uncertainty that the housing market faces as many businesses reopen across the nation.