Editor’s Note: The Mortgage Mix is RISMedia’s weekly highlight reel of need-to-know mortgage-industry happenings. Watch for it each Friday.
- According to Mortgage News Daily, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate currently sits at 6.45%, a slight increase of 0.02% from where it sat on February 6, 2023. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate sits at 5.51%, down 0.06% from the February 6 rate.
- As we’ve reported, this increase in mortgage rates is believed to be linked to a slight interest rate hike and strong employment levels.
- Mortgage applications enjoyed an increase of 7.4% during the week ending in February 3, 2023. This is a healthy rebound after a decrease of 9% the week ending in January 27, 2033. This data comes courtesy of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications survey.
- According to CNBC, mortgage refinance demand increased 18% week over week, but compared year over year, it’s 75% lower.
- MBA Economist Joel Kan tells CNBC that the average loan size on a purchase application reached $425,000, the highest since May 2022.
- Mortgage Credit availability dropped for the second month in a row, MBA said, coming down slightly from a reading of 103.3 in December 2022 to 103.2 in January 2023.
- Following the trend of Wells Fargo, JP Morgan is reported to have laid off “hundreds” of its mortgage division employees on Wednesday, February 8.
- The Wall Street Journal reports that homebuyers over the age of 65 continue to face hurdles for securing mortgages that their younger counterparts do not.
On the local level, the Illinois government suspended the license of former Sprout Mortgage CEO Michael Strauss over concerns that he failed to provide accurate information about his background.
