Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Mortgage Refinance 2008 Year End Numbers

By Sara Vlazny

Rising unemployment and what seems like a shrinking U.S. economy has strapped consumers looking for relief by way of Mortgage Refinance. Those seeking lower monthly payments on current Loans seem to be raising the number of applications. The current percentage increase for this week ending January the ninth, of 2009, includes both mortgage refinance and original loans, which is the highest combined, percentage increase since 2003.

The purchase market shows growth much slower than that of the refinance market, but everyone is hoping the low mortgage rates will create demand for new Mortgage applications. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage refinance applications rose from 79.8 to 85.3 the previous week, which is the highest jump for the Refinance sector since the early 90's.

The Mortgage Refinance sector will show an increase in applications due to the weakening economy as consumers continue looking for ways to reduce their expenditures. Several factors including the climbing unemployment rate and its role in slowing the economy have contributed to shaky financial markets, keeping buyers from applying for mortgage finance.

With a good part of the World watching and anticipating positive change in a situation some call, "the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression", there seems to be little sign of recovery even with a significant rise in applications for Mortgage Refinance.

According to some Analysts, including those with Wachovia Corporation, people are still not comfortable with the forecast of the housing market, no matter how low the interest rates are, if job security is in question, it will directly affect income stream. In order to benefit from low mortgage rates or a Mortgage Refinance, these factors have to be solidified before consumers can even think about taking out a loan for property.

One online real estate service claims that loan requests are up over 200 percent from two months ago. Companies that offer services for the mortgage industry have stated they are working twice as hard to handle the increase in volume of Mortgage Refinance requests and will try to avoid hiring more employees looking for the normal rise in rates once the market settles. Applications for mortgage refinance jumped 25.6 percent. And last week's mortgage applications helped its four week average rising by 10.8 percent.

The 30 year mortgage rates in this Nation dramatically declined in November of 2008, when the Federal Reserve announced its plan to buy approximately $500 billion worth of mortgage securities that were backed by Fannie, Ginnie and Freddie. The Federal Government, prompted by the dive of the finance market, has made a commitment to keep consumers borrowing costs down through the purchase of mortgage-backed securities. As for Mortgage Refinance, now is a great time to lock in at a low rate since we know rates will not stay down forever.

The Index came in well below its level from a year ago with a 35.9% drop and hit an eight year low in November of 2008. The Mortgage Bankers Association shows their seasonally adjusted purchase index fell 14.1% with applications for mortgage refinance jumping 25.6 percent. And last week's mortgage applications helped their four week average by rising 10.8 percent. - 15224

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