Mortgage applications decreased last week while purchase applications shoot up MABA MassachusettsRealEstate MaBuyerAgent FirstTimeHomeBuyers

 Mortgage applications declined by two percent week over week during the week ending in March 21, according to Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Meanwhile, purchase applications showed the strongest increase in almost two months, rising seven percent year over year. “Last week’s purchase activity was driven primarily by a six percent increase in FHA applications, as the combination of loosening housing inventory and slowly declining mortgage rates have presented this segment of buyers with more opportunities,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. 

 “Overall applications declined, however, as refinance applications were down five percent to its lowest level in a month.” Buyers’ uncertainty about U.S. trade and the economy may have contributed to the dip, as President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to shake up national and international business. “If you have uncertainty about what policy is going to look like … that is going to cause you to not make big, important decisions,” Gerald Cohen, chief economist at Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina, recently told NPR in response to changes in U.S trade policy.

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