Mortgage Applications Tumble
-- March 31, 2004

New U.S. applications for mortgages fell last week for the second straight week, according to a trade group analysis. And the 2.1% decline was on top of a 0.2% dip the week before. Take a look ...

As you can tell from this chart, mortgage application activity is on the slide ... and that's despite super-attractive interest rates. Longer term results are even worse: Mortgage applications are now 13.6% below where they were a year ago!

But that's not all. Both components of the index - including purchases and refinancings - fell as well. That indicates that the decline isn't limited to a single type of mortgage activity.

Keep an eye on this index because it can indicate where future mortgage activity is headed. And because mortgage activity plays such a big role in overall growth, negative trends that show up here could be a signal of future slowdowns.

related articles:
Mortgage Applications Dip, Rates Rise