Purchase Mortgage Activity Rises Despite Interest Rates

Purchase Mortgage Activity Rises Despite Interest Rates

Overall volumes of mortgage loan rate locks appear, as yet, largely unaffected by the recent increases in mortgage interest rates , but have definitely changed their composition. Black Knight says, in its current Originations Market Monitor , that total rate lock activity rose 19 percent from February to March, driven by 31 percent growth in those for purchasing. That brought the growth in those locks to 70 percent over the past three months. In the meantime, refinancing locks dropped 13.8 percent in March. “Mortgage interest rates spiked in March, with 30-year offerings climbing 70 basis points over the course of the month,” said Scott Happ, president, Optimal Blue, a division of Black Knight. “In fact, our Optimal Blue Mortgage Market Indices daily interest rate tracker (OBMMI) s