Shares of real estate brokerage firms are higher after the Mortgage Bankers Association, MBA, said the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 30.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 67% compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 43% from the previous week and was 109% higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 16% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased by 51% compared with the previous week and was 8% higher than the same week one year ago." STRONG REFINANCING PACE: The mortgage market saw a strong start to 2020. Applications increased across the board, and the 30-year fixed mortgage rate hit its lowest level since September 2019," said Joel Kan, associate VP of Economic and Industry Forecasting. "Refinances increased for both conventional and government loans, as lower rates provided a larger incentive for borrowers to act. It remains to be seen if this strong refinancing pace is sustainable, but even with the robust activity in the last two weeks, the level is still below what occurred last fall.
