The mortgage market may be slowing down, although not as a result of any sort of trouble in the housing market. Primarily because of rising interest rates, as of the first quarter of 2014, mortgage lending has declined to its lowest level in 14 years. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate has climbed from 3.6 percent last May to its current rate of 4.5 percent.
The drop in mortgage issuance has happened fairly quickly. Mortgage loans from January to March were down 23 percent from the fourth quarter, and down a whopping 58 percent from the year earlier.
This isn't really an indictment of the housing market per se. Loans for home purchases have been virtually flat from the year-earlier period. But what has happened is that mortgage refinances, which were so hot when interest rates were at historic lows, have basically dried up.
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