Realtor.com’s chief economist Jonathan Smoke reports that though retail sales and consumer sentiment data show consumers are feeling much better about the economy, tight credit is limiting who can buy in the housing market.
An application composite based on the weekly readings on mortgage applications for the first week of September from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that purchase applications and refinances fell 7.2 percent over the last week of August. The Refinance Index was down 11 percent, and the Purchase Index was down 3 percent.
