Mortgage applications jumped 1.2 percent from a week ago, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The group said falling mortgage rates are behind the uptick — and falling mortgage rates are due to a broader slowdown in wages and economic growth.
"Purchase applications continued to be hampered by broader weakness in the housing market and declined slightly over the week, with the index slipping to its lowest level since 2014,” said Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at MBA.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell 16 basis points from 6.58 percent to 6.42 percent.
There was also a notable bump in refinancing applications. Their share of mortgage activity increased to 30.7 percent from 30.3 percent a week ago, also on the back of falling mortgage interest rates.
This is still down 80 percent from a year ago, when rock-bottom rates led to a spree of refinancing activity.
President Donald Trump is talking up a joint venture investing up to $500 billion for infrastructure tied to artificial intelligence by a new partnership formed by OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank. The new entity, Stargate, will start building out data centers and the electricity generation needed for the further development of the fast-evolving AI in Texas, according to the White House. The initial investment is expected to be $100 billion and could reach five times that sum. While Trump has seized on similar announcements to show that his presidency is boosting the economy, there were already expectations of a massive buildout of data centers and electricity plants needed for the development of AI.
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