Mortgage Applications Stagnate, Even As Dow Rises

Mortgage applications showed an 11.3 percent increase in volume for the week ending January 28. But the Mortgage Bankers Association warned against reading too much into the rise, since it was compared to the previous week, which included the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

The flow of refinance applications increased 11.7 percent as the average 30-year-fixed rate mortgage interest rate rose slightly from 4.80 percent to 4.81 percent. The rate of purchase applications rose 16.7 percent over the previous week, but was 21.4 percent lower than the same week last year. Despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing above 12,000 for the first time since June 2008, the housing market continues to slide, hobbled by unemployment and excess inventory.