Mortgage Purchase and Refinance Applications Rise Significantly
Monday, April 12th, 2010
Per the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 14.6 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 15.5 percent compared with the same time a year ago.
“Mortgage applications rebounded last week, particularly in regards to refinance transactions, as rates dropped back below five percent,” said Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics. “Purchase activity remains subdued, with application volume’s remaining within the narrow range seen in the last few months.”
The Refinance Index increased 17.2 percent from the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased nine percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 11.7 percent compared with the previous week, and was 9.8 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 69.1 percent of total applications from 68.1 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 4.8 percent from 4.7 percent of total applications from the previous week.
Ability for Lenders to Foreclose in Florida Just got Tougher
A pair of Florida court rulings will now make foreclosures much more painful for lenders.
The state Supreme Court said last month that before foreclosing, a lender must verify that it has all the proper documents, including proof it owns the mortgage in question !!!.
This isn’t as easy as it may sound, since during the securitization boom of the last decade, mortgages were typically sold several times over. If, when pressed by the borrower, a lender cannot produce such papers, the institution could be fined for perjury, the court said.
I should note that attempted foreclosures in other states have been dismissed for lack of such proof, ergo the ‘would be’ borrower owns the home free-and-clear.
On top of the above documentation that is now required, the same court said all Florida foreclosure cases must go through mediation, a process that has been gaining popularity in other states and that bankers say makes foreclosures expensive for them.
I will note here that according to RealtyTrac Inc., one in every 187 homes in Florida received a foreclosure filing in January of this year.
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