Weekly mortgage applications numbers and what they mean (Part 1)

Every week, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) puts out an index of mortgage application activity

Mortgage applications are relevant to a number of industries—from banks to non-banks, to mortgage REITs to homebuilders. This series will break down the different indices and help you learn what insight you can glean from them. If you’re a bank, you’re looking at these indices and trying to determine whether you’re competitive in all the segments you want to be competitive in. If you’re a non-bank, you might be looking to see if you’re gaining share or losing share. If you’re a mortgage REIT, you’re focusing on the refinance index and what it might mean for prepayments going forward. And if you’re a homebuilder, you’re watching the purchase index as a way to gauge future demand.

(Read more: Radar Logic futures curve predicts flat real estate prices until September 2014)

This series will look at the three main MBA indices.

• Part 2: The MBA Basic Mortgage Applications Index

• Part 3: The MBA Purchase Index

• Part 4: The MBA Refinance Index

We’ll start with the basic MBA Mortgage Applications Index.

(Read more: Spread between 30-year fixed rate mortgages and 5/1 ARMS tightens)

Continue to Weekly Mortgage Applications numbers and what they mean (Part 2)

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