Faux Housing Recovery: US Mortgage Applications Tumble Most Since 2016

After dismal housing starts and permits data yesterday, the ‘housing recovery’ narrative took another knock this morning as mortgage applications tumbled 4.1% last week – the biggest drop since December 2016.  If the Fed raises rates in June- there will be a further contraction.

While mortgage rates were unchanged, both purchases and refis fell notably…

• Purchases down 2.7% after rising 1.7% in prior week
• Refis fell 5.7% after rising 3.3% in prior week

Perhaps additionally of note the government’s programs saw a dramatic drop off in the last week…