The Mortgage Bankers Association recently released a report showing that residential mortgage applications declined slightly to end January.
The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 27 showed that the Market Composite Index, which shows the volume of mortgage applications, declined 2.9 percent compared to the previous week. In addition, the Refinance Index dropped 2.6 percent, while the Purchase index fell 1.7 percent even though rates were down.
"The Federal Reserve surprised the market last week by indicating that short-term rates were likely to stay at their current low-levels until the end of 2014," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics. "Longer-term treasury rates dropped in response, and mortgage rates for the week were down slightly as a result."
Despite the declines, the four-week moving averages remained positive, according to the report. The Market Index increased 4.11 percent compared to the previous week, while the Refinance Index rose 4.22 percent. The Purchase Index also witnessed a jump of 2.48 percent.
The slight decline in mortgage applications may be due to the recent information from Freddie Mac that showed residential mortgage rates increased to end the month of January.