Mortgage Applications up. Durable Goods down.

March 25, 2015

MBA Mortgage Applications (week ended 3/20/2014)

– Purchase Index Week/Week +5.0%. Previous weeks were -2.0%, +2.0%, -0.2%, +5.0%, -7.0%, -7.0%, -2.0%, -0.1%, -3.0%, +24.0%, -5.0%, +1.0%, and -7.0%.

– Refinance Index Week/Week +12.0%. Previous weeks were -5.0%, -3.0%, -0.2%, +1.0%, -16.0%, -10.0%, +3.0%, -5.0%, +22.0%. +66.0%, -12.0%, and +1.0%.

– Composite Index Week/Week +9.5%. Previous weeks were -3.9%, -1.3%, -1.3%, +0.1%, -8.0%. -13.2%, -9.0%, +1.3%, -3.2%, +14.2%, +49.1%, -9.1%, and +0.9%.

Refi application jump when rates move down.  As mentioned yesterday purchase application had been affected by the weather in the Northeast and have now improved.  The increase in Purchase applications  may be as much about the weather as about the housing market.

Durable Goods Orders (February 2015)

– New Orders month/month  -1.4%. Previous was +2.0%.
– New Orders year/year +0.6%. Previous was +4.7%.
– Ex-transportation month/month  -0.4%. Previous was -0.7%
– Ex-transportation year/year +2.3%. Previous was +2.3%.

Manufacturing along with weak 1stQ2015 GDP components is likely to keep the Fed from raising rates soon.