Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Mortgage applications hit almost 5-year high: MBA



Good news! The transmission mechanism (via housing) is not completely broken.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended December 19 soared 48.0 percent to 1,245.4, the highest reading since the week ended July 18, 2003, when it reached 1,284.3.

Spencer Rascoff, chief operating officer at Zillow.com, a real estate website based in Seattle, said historically low mortgage rates are a boon for the mortgage industry and to many borrowers, but it remains to be seen if they will have a substantial effect on the housing market.

"The good news is that these refis could help some homeowners avoid expensive resets on adjustable rate mortgages, and in turn prevent some foreclosures," he said on Monday.


Read full article here.

3 comments:

googleheim said...

is this another chinese subsidized low interest rate to sucker the USA into another consumption binge ??

please differeniate between Fed crediting of bank institutions to create liquidity as opposed to deficit spending / foreign lending / printing money which will create inflation downstream ??

how will proper taxation reabsorb the money back to the Fed treasury ?

are we really at a point where the Fed has to create money out of thin air ?

what about taxation curves to increase savings as opposed to consumption ?

googleheim said...

HOW WILL FEDERAL TREASURY CREDITING OF BANKING ACCOUNTS BE DIFFERENT NOW THAN THE RECENT CHINESE LENDING TO USA WHEN UNDER GREENSPAN CHINA BOUGHT UP ALL OUR GOV TREASURIES AND BONDS WHICH ALLOWED US TO BORROW CHEAP AND KEEP INTEREST RATES DOWN ?

BOTH ARE DEFICIT SPENDING? OR ONLY BORROWING FROM CHINA ?

UNDER KISSINGER/BUSH/GREENSPAN THE HOUSING BUBBLE WAS FUELED BY A BORROWING OF MONIES FROM A GLOBAL SOURCE ... _FROM_ THE REAL ECONOMY _TO_ THE FEDERAL TREASURY AND BACK TO THE DOMESTIC REAL ECONOMY.

HOWEVER, THE NORMAN SUGGESTS THAT WE CREDIT THE INSTITUTIONS AND THEREFORE NOT BORROW FROM THE CHINESE. THE MONEY DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PAID BACK TO A FOREIGN ENTITY AND THE ACCOUNTING IS MUCH SIMPLER - WE OWE OUR SELVES MAYBE BUT NO ONE ELSE ...

SOUNDS BETTER THAN THE KISSINGER/BUSH/GREENSPAN TECHNIQUE FOR SURE.

KISSINGER IS MENTIONED SINCE HE IS A CURRENT & SILENT PLAYER AMONG MAJOR COMMODITY MARKETS SUCH AS COPPER WHICH IS BY THE WAY MINED IN PLACES LIKE CHILE WHERE COICIDENTALLY THERE WAS A COUP ON 9-11-1973 AGAINST A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT.

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