Each day the Research staff takes a look at recently released economic indicators, addressing what these indicators mean for REALTORS® and their clients. Today’s update highlights mortgage purchase applications.
- Purchase applications were up 6.7 percent from the prior week and down 16.8 percent compared with a year ago. Meanwhile, the Refinance Index declined 6.2 percent as mortgage rates on a 30-year fixed mortgage continued to rise, to 4.93 percent.
- The weekly data does not account for the rising number of cash buyers. According to the March REALTORS® Confidence Index, cash buyers accounted for 35 percent of transactions.