Higher-End Buyers Readying for Spring Market; Rates Keep Healing; What’s Up With Stocks vs Bonds?

Higher-End Buyers Readying for Spring Market; Rates Keep Healing; What’s Up With Stocks vs Bonds?

An uptick in mortgage rates was blamed by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the first decline in mortgage applications in three weeks. MBA's Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis during the week ended March 1. The prior week, which ended February 22, included an adjustment for the Presidents' Day holiday. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 10 percent. The Refinance Index decreased 2 percent from the previous week and the share of refinancing applications shrank from 40.4 percent of those submitted to 40.0 percent. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index dipped 3 percent from one week earlier but was up 11percent on an unadjusted basis. The unadjusted index was 1 percent higher than during