Housing market sees dramatic uptick, Ellie Mae CEO says
Mortgage rates are steadily moving lower as home-price gains are slowing to their weakest pace in seven years.
U.S. home prices cooled off at a 2.7 percent gain in March, down from 3.0 percent in the previous month, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.
Despite lower mortgage rates, Americans aren’t rushing toward refinancing or buying homes.
“What we are actually seeing is the homebuyer market has really re-engaged as we’ve come into the spring,” Ellie Mae CEO Jonathan Corr told FOX Business’ Liz Claman on Wednesday.
The housing market has seen a recent uptick driven by cooling home prices and lower mortgage rates, according to Corr.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage is 4.06 percent compared to 4.66 percent a year ago, according to Freddie Mac. The Mortgage Bankers Association reports total mortgage applications fell 3.3 percent last week and mortgage refinance volume fell 6 percent.
Corr said he is seeing some level of refinancing despite mortgage activity hitting a one-month low.
“If you have some room to refi, this is a good time to do it,” he said.
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Ellie Mae is a tech firm that processes 26 million mortgage applications a year. The company was acquired by private equity investment firm Thoma Bravo last month in a $3.7 billion all-cash deal.