The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Purchase Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume for home purchases across the country, ticked up 3 percent over the past week. At the same time, the Purchase Index fell two points on a year-over-year basis and application volume is 17 percent lower than during the same week last year.
Having characterized it as a sign of “seller confidence” and “an indication of a strong early beginning to the spring home buying season,” last week the National Association of Realtors revealed that the number of homes for sale across the country is currently 10 percent higher than at the same time last year, as we first reported last month.