Summary

Original source:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-re.apply13mar13,1,6395266.story?coll=bal-realestate-headlines-1

Details

• Mortgage applications fell for a fourth straight week as refinancing waned, an industry report showed.
• The Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association said its weekly gauge of mortgage applications declined 0.7 percent to 704.8 in the week ended March 4 from 710.1 in the prior week.
• Not since the middle of last year has the index fallen in as many weeks.
• The gauge of refinancing applications declined 4.6 percent to 2176.8, the lowest since the week of Jan. 2 and a sign homeowners will rely less on home equity as a source of cash for additional spending.
• "Volume is down and as a mortgage lender you have to adjust to the times by tapering back on staff," said Bob Moulton, president of Manhasset, N.Y.-based Americana Mortgage Group Inc. "I've cut my staff back from 20 people to 16 already this year."
• The mortgage bankers' index of purchase applications rose 2.7 percent to 451.7, the highest since Dec. 24, from 440.
• The gauge reached a high of 501.6 in January of last year.
• The share of refinancing as a percent of all mortgage applications dropped to 42.6 percent, the lowest since the week ended Sept. 3.
• The refinancing gauge has declined 78 percent since reaching a record in May 2003.
• The mortgage bankers' survey covers approximately 50 percent of all retail residential mortgage originations and has been conducted weekly since 1990.
• The base period is March 16, 1990, when the value for all indexes was 100.
• In May 2003, before central bankers began raising rates, the percentage was about 34 percent.
• Some economists forecast longer-term mortgage rates to rise later this year and keep a lid on home sales.
• Anthony Chan, senior economist at JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management in Columbus, Ohio, expects 30-year fixed mortgage rates to reach as high as 6.7 percent this year.

Related Articles

Popular Topics: Mortgage, Interest rates, Mortgage refinancing, Diabetes, Breast cancer, Prostate cancer, Heart disease, Depression, High cholesterol, Osteoporosis, Vaccines, Autism, ADHD, Infertility, Weight loss, Cancer, Alzheimer's, Trans fats, Acrylamides, Fluoride, Mercury	Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com Email this article to a friend Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/005931.html Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link. <a href = "http://www.NaturalNews.com/005931.html">Mortgage refinancing slows down as interest rates rise</a>
Receive our Natural Health Newsletter for FREE Subscribe now (it's free!) to win. We randomly choose a subscriber each month to send $100 in eco-home products or a RealGoods.com gift certificate (our choice). Plus, you'll receive FREE news, articles and action alerts from NaturalNews.com editors and join over 800,000 monthly readers who report extraordinary health improvements after becoming a subscriber! Receive breaking news alerts on natural health solutions, renewable energy, the environment, global warming and more. Receive a free instant download of our $29 Secret Sources guide that reveals top sources for little-known health and diet solutions.	Your Email Address: Free Subscription Code: Enter the numbers you see: 100% free of charge. Unsubscribe anytime. Absolutely no spam. We respect your email privacy.
Recommended Special Report: Seven Words that can Change the World by Joseph R. Simonetta Read this special report now... "Seven Words That Can Change the World reveals the astonishing, simple truths that have the power to forever transform our world for the better while freeing our minds from the enslavement of limiting beliefs. This is not a text for the simple-minded; it is a guiding philosophy for the mindful, intelligent few who are wise enough to seek out -- and recognize -- the higher simplicities of truly purposeful living." - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, editor of NaturalNews.com	More on NaturalNews.com: • Streaming Health Ranger Videos • CounterThink Cartoons • FREE Special Reports • Podcasts