Want more proof of the housing markets addiction/love affair with the tax credit?
Just check out whats happened with mortgage applications. Demand for new mortgages has gone on a roller coaster ride over the past few months. The number of new mortgage applications fell steadily over the six weeks leading into November, hitting an historic low at mid-month. But over the past few weeks, mortgage applications have exploded again, with a big jump last week. Oddly, rates appear to playing at best a co-star role in this. Despite some minor fluctuations, rates have stayed down and are now flirting once again with last springs historic low of 4.61 percent. But if you match the rise and fall of mortgage demand with the debate in Congress over whether to extend the home buyer tax credit, then the yo-yo like fluctuations begin to make sense.
