Drop in Mortgage Demand May Signal Market Easing

Even as mortgage interest rates continue to bounce around record lows, the 2020 surge in home buying may be slowing into 2021, as mortgage demand fell 4.2% over the past two weeks. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, home purchase application volume dropped 0.8%, from the previous week and was only 3% above last year’s level. For the last half year, annual comparisons have averaged around 20% higher. Refinance loan requests fell 6%, but were still 100% higher than a year ago, thanks to those historically low rates.