Mortgage applications are up 2.7 percent from one week earlier, but this improvement isn’t nearly as positive as it first seems.

The good news that the MBA purchase application index is up 2.7 percent to 191.7.  The bad news is that the index is substantially below the index one year ago of 227.5.

When you look at the numbers from the last couple years, you see that the housing market is stuck in a rut.  

The Fed’s attempt to push rates down to stimulate the housing market has run out of juice.