With mortgage rates at their lowest since September and still showing some signs of decline, more Americans are looking to refinance.
A CNBC report found that applications to refinance mortgages had jumped 18 percent from week to week. Lowering interest rates have also cleared a path for some Americans who were holding out from applying amid the higher rates.
Week-over-week, home buying applications jumped 3 percent but were still down 37 percent from the same time last year.
"Purchase activity that was put on hold last year due to the quick run-up in rates is gradually coming back as rates ease and housing demand remains strong, driven by supportive demographics and the ongoing strength in the job market," Joel Kan, an MBA economist, told CNBC.
Loans sizes are also on the rise, increasing to $428,500, which is the largest hike since May.
While refi and home buying applications are rising, a large majority of Americans are still waiting until the economy gets stronger. In a survey from FlyHomes, 78 percent of respondents say they have either slowed or stopped their home search altogether.
"The survey findings reinforce just how damaging the rise in interest rates has been on the buyer psyche and how much education and product innovation the mortgage industry needs to do," Dan Richards, EVP of Flyhomes Mortgage, said in a statement. "Learning that two-thirds of reluctant buyers would purchase now with a product that allowed them to refinance later without paying closing costs signals a major gap in the marketplace."
The survey also found that nearly half of respondents lacked knowledge about how the refinancing process actually works.
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Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
