Mortgage applications jumped 1.2 percent from a week ago, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The group said falling mortgage rates are behind the uptick — and falling mortgage rates are due to a broader slowdown in wages and economic growth.
"Purchase applications continued to be hampered by broader weakness in the housing market and declined slightly over the week, with the index slipping to its lowest level since 2014,” said Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at MBA.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell 16 basis points from 6.58 percent to 6.42 percent.
There was also a notable bump in refinancing applications. Their share of mortgage activity increased to 30.7 percent from 30.3 percent a week ago, also on the back of falling mortgage interest rates.
This is still down 80 percent from a year ago, when rock-bottom rates led to a spree of refinancing activity.
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An independent watchdog within the IRS reports that while taxpayer services have vastly improved, the agency is still too slow to resolve identity theft cases. And National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins says those delays are “unconscionable.” Erin M. Collins said in the report released Wednesday that overall the 2024 filing season went smoothly, though IRS delays in resolving identity theft victim assistance cases are worsening. It took nearly 19 months to resolve self-reported identity theft cases as of January, and Wednesday's report states that now it takes 22 months to resolve these cases.
