http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/01/22/mortgage-applications-rise-as-interest-rates-fall/ Loan Business News, Information, and Consumer Education Thu, 17 May 2012 16:15:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/01/22/mortgage-applications-rise-as-interest-rates-fall/#comment-32 richard Wed, 06 Feb 2008 14:28:08 +0000 http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/01/22/mortgage-applications-rise-as-interest-rates-fall/#comment-32 I admire your skepticism -- it is important to always consider the source of any information, and whether or not there is an underlying bias. While the Mortgage Banker's Association is an industry advocacy organization, and therefore inclined to put a rosy spin on the mortgage business, one value of looking at a data series compiled with a consistent methodology (such as the mortgage application index) is that you can draw your own conclusions from the numbers. It's a bit like looking at the S&P 500 -- no doubt Standard & Poors derives a lot of business from the health of the financial markets, but no one ever questions the objectivity of the S&P 500 as a stock index because it employs a consistent methodology over time. That's not to say these indices don't have built in tendencies based on how they are constructed -- all indices do, whether it is mortgage applications, the S&P 500, or CPI. But that's a far cry from the information being actively manipulated, so there is value in this information. I admire your skepticism — it is important to always consider the source of any information, and whether or not there is an underlying bias. While the Mortgage Banker’s Association is an industry advocacy organization, and therefore inclined to put a rosy spin on the mortgage business, one value of looking at a data series compiled with a consistent methodology (such as the mortgage application index) is that you can draw your own conclusions from the numbers. It’s a bit like looking at the S&P 500 — no doubt Standard & Poors derives a lot of business from the health of the financial markets, but no one ever questions the objectivity of the S&P 500 as a stock index because it employs a consistent methodology over time. That’s not to say these indices don’t have built in tendencies based on how they are constructed — all indices do, whether it is mortgage applications, the S&P 500, or CPI. But that’s a far cry from the information being actively manipulated, so there is value in this information.

]]> http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/01/22/mortgage-applications-rise-as-interest-rates-fall/#comment-28 Jeff J. Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:02:02 +0000 http://www.loanbiz.com/blog/2008/01/22/mortgage-applications-rise-as-interest-rates-fall/#comment-28 How neutral and unbiased a source is the Mortgage Banker's Association? I don't know anything about them, but it sounds like they're only going to release information that is good for mortgage bankers. How neutral and unbiased a source is the Mortgage Banker’s Association? I don’t know anything about them, but it sounds like they’re only going to release information that is good for mortgage bankers.

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