Dive Brief:
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Fewer consumers applied for mortgages in December than in November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey.
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Those who did apply for home loans requested more money per property. The average loan size increased to $311,398 in December from $306,975 the month before.
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The data is used to gauge the volume of future home sales.
Dive Insight:
Many in the industry predicted that low mortgage interest rates, which dipped to lower than 4% in the final weeks of 2014 and have slid even further this month, would entice more consumers to buy homes. However, that increase in volume has not materialized.