Recently released reports from two of the country’s largest banks, indicated the housing market in the U.S. might be set to rebound. Two banks released earnings reports on Friday and showed that more people in the U.S. are buying homes, paying on time and refinancing because of the low interest rates available.
The largest bank in the U.S., JPMorgan Chase said its income produced from new home mortgages set a record in the first quarter. The bank signed 6% more loans for homes that the previous year and received 33% more home mortgage applications.
Wells Fargo, the issuer of the most home mortgages in the country, received its most mortgages fees since three years ago. It issued more the 54% more home loans that last year and accepted 84% more mortgage applications.
Prices for homes are still falling although at a slower rate than in the last number of years. According to recently released figures, over 500,000 homes in the U.S. were in some stage of foreclosure.
One factor that helped the increase in the number of new mortgages and refinancing was the interest rates. The rates for a 30-year mortgage were 3.87% in February. The national average this week was at 3.88%.
The CEO of Wells Fargo John Stumpf said the housing market in the U.S. was nearing a tipping point that will help it to take off in the near future.
