Mortgage applications fell for the second consecutive week nationally as the coronavirus and the ensuing shutdown of the economy continued to create instability in the housing market, but at least one Dallas Fort Worth lender said the dropoff he’s seen has been less dramatic.
National mortgage application volume fell 29 percent for the week ending March 20 compared to the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Texas and metro-level data were not immediately available.
Rodney Anderson, branch manager and residential mortgage lender of Supreme Lending in Plano, said any decline in the number of applications in North Texas would not be that sharp.
“We’re still seeing people buy homes and getting under contract to buy homes, but we’re also seeing sales slowing down a little bit because many sellers are pulling their houses off the market because they don’t want people in their homes,” Anderson said. “We see some people out there who are full steam ahead, and then we’re seeing some sellers who are saying, ‘I’m going to wait until all of this is over."
Nationally, home purchase applications were significantly impacted by rising mortgage rates and the widespread economic disruption and uncertainty over household employment and incomes caused largely by the coronavirus pandemic, said Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting.
More investors are eyeing the DFW market, Anderson said.
“We’re starting to hear from people that buy investment properties that they’re getting their cash together because they think there’s going to be a wonderful opportunity over the next 30 to 60 days to go buy some nice properties cheaper than they would otherwise be.”
