Value for homes diminishes, increasing mortgage applications

While current homeowners continuously face drops in their home's equity, large numbers of new homebuyers took advantage of attractive mortgage rates and applied for mortgage loans last week.

The latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association, displays mortgage application volume for the week ending March 4 rose 15.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week. Rising to its highest level this year was volumes for purchase loan applications at a seasonally adjusted 12.5%. Also increasing to near peak levels since January 11 was Refinance loan volume at 17.2%.

"An improving job market is beginning to pave the way for an improving housing market." said MBA's vice president of research and economics, Michael Fratantoni. In addition to progressing job market, he also attributed the growth to lowering interest rates"...mortgage interest rates remained below 5 percent for a second week, maintaining affordability for buyers and leading to an increase in refinance applications." he added.

The exceeding growth in mortgage lending has ignited the interests among software developers who create programs for portfolio management. Banking professionals and lenders are beginning to demand for better financial risk management software to improve control and enhance client relations.

Yesterday, a report by CoreLogic stated that in the final quarter of 2010, 23.1%, of all residential properties were valued at less than the outstanding balance on their mortgages. That reflects a 2.7% rise from the previous quarter.