Mortgage applications declined for the second week in a row, reaching their lowest level since February of last year, according to NHC member Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) most recent weekly survey. MBA’s Market Composite Index, a seasonally adjusted measure of new mortgage application volume, decreased 4% from the previous week, and measures of refinances and purchases showed similar declines.

According to Joel Kan, MBA associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, the decline can be chalked up to “tight housing inventory, obstacles to a faster rate of new construction, and rapidly rising home prices,” trends that are starting to make themselves apparent in other measures of housing demand, as well. A recent study by Redfin, for example, found drops in new home sale listings and pending sales of 12% and 10%, respectively.

Though he cautioned against predicting any sudden drops in housing demand, Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather told HousingWire that he expects to see the market cool off slightly as the country emerges from the pandemic. “There may be signs that some buyers would rather spend their money on restaurants, vacations, and other things they have held back on for the past year, instead of on housing now that the threat of the pandemic is dissipating in America,” he said.

A federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that the nationwide eviction moratorium can stay in effect while a case challenging it works its way through the courts. The decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request from a group of landlords, led by the Alabama Association of Realtors, to resume evictions after District Judge Dabney Friedrich struck down the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) moratorium last month. Friedrich agreed to issue a temporary stay on the order to allow time for the appeal.

The court found that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the defendant in the case, “has demonstrated that lifting the national moratorium will exacerbate the significant public health risks identified by the CDC because, even with increased vaccinations, COVID-19 continues to spread and infect persons, and new variants are emerging.” The ruling is good news for housing advocacy groups who warned of mass evictions and spikes in COVID-19 cases were Friedrich’s decision allowed to stand. It may also indicate that HHS is likely to succeed in convincing courts to allow the moratorium to remain in effect through June as originally planned.

The Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development division (USDA-RD) announced on Wednesday a new competitive grant program, the Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge, aimed at fostering placemaking activities in rural communities through enhancing broadband access, preserving cultural and historic structures, and developing transportation, housing and recreational spaces. Rural placemaking is defined under the program as “a collaborative process among public, private, philanthropic and community partners to strategically improve the social, cultural, and economic structure of a community.”

USDA-RD has made $3 million in grant money available, with a maximum award amount of $250,000. Applications are open until July 26 for eligible entities. USDA will host a webinar providing more information on the grant program for prospective applicants on June 24.

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge was elected chair of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) on Thursday, in a unanimous vote by the heads of the 19 federal agencies represented in the body. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough was elected as USICH’s vice chair.

Fudge succeeds Robert Marburt, who headed the council during the final year of the Trump administration and sought to depart from its longstanding use of a “Housing First” approach, saying it enabled individuals to remain in a cycle of homelessness. In a statement announcing her election, Fudge made clear that she would reverse the direction Marburt had taken. “As chair, I am committed to leveraging the Council to tackle homelessness through a Housing First approach and meaningful interagency collaboration,” she said.