by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
Demand is a lot weaker in some places than in others.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home in the US during the week ended April 17 plunged by 31% from a year ago, and by 41% from the peak in January, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today. It was the fifth week in a row of year-over-year plunges and the third week in a row in the minus 31-35% ZIP code. The purchase mortgage applications data – based on weekly surveys of banks, nonbanks, and thrifts that cover 75% of all residential mortgage applications – is an early indication of demand by regular people trying to buy a home: