Yikes! Mortgage Purchase Demand Falls -34% Over 2 Weeks, Refi Demand Falls Closing Out 2023 (As Fed Combats Inflation, Mortgage Rates Are Still UP 130% Under Biden)

What a way to close out 2023! I need to find Happy Gilmore’s “Happy Place.”

Mortgage applications decreased 9.4 percent from two weeks earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 29, 2023. The results include adjustments to account for the holidays.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 9.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from two weeks earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 38 percent compared with two weeks ago.  The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 5 percent compared with two weeks ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 34 percent compared with two weeks ago and was 12 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The unadjusted Refinance Index decreased 43 percent from two weeks ago and was 15 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The Fed continues to fight inflation. but rates cuts are forecast for 2024. But remember, mortgage rates are down slightly, but still up 130% under Biden.

Yes, a new set of PXG irons would get me to my personal Happy Place!