Mortgage Applications Plummet To Nine-Year Low

As if we needed more proof that the mortgage market is currently a totally manipulated market.

Mortgage applications to purchase homes in the U.S. plunged last week to the lowest level in almost nine years as Americans waited for the outcome of deliberations to extend a government tax credit, reports Bob Willis at Bloomberg.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications to buy a house dropped 12 percent in the week ended Nov. 6 to 220.9, the lowest level since Dec. 2000. The group’s refinancing gauge rose 11 percent as interest rates decreased, pushing the overall index up 3.2 percent.

The drop in buying plans points to the risk that the recent stabilization in housing will unravel without government help, Willis adds. You can say that again.