Looks like those low rates aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Once again, we need:
a FICA suspension
$500 per capita fed distribution to the state govts
$8/hr federally funded transition job for anyone willing and able to work

And institutional structure that facilitates GDP growth with less energy consumption

Mortgage Applications Fell Last Week

May 25 (Reuters) — Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell last week, pulled lower by a decline in refinancing demand, an industry group said Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell nearly 4 percent in the week ended May 27.

The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications lost 5.7 percent, even as interest rates tumbled.

“The last time mortgage rates were this low, refinance volume was more than twenty percent higher,” Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. “It is likely that many borrowers still cannot qualify to refinance given the lack of equity in their homes.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity fell to 65.7 percent of total applications from 66.8 percent the week before. The gauge of loan requests for home purchases was essentially unchanged.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.58 percent in the week, down from 4.69 percent the week before.