More focus seems to have been put on family this holiday season as last week has become the first week that the Mortgage Bankers Association had not put out a mortgage report this year. That is because the last two weeks had seen a serious decline in mortgage applications. There was a 12% decrease in applications from the previous two weeks. This may be having a positive effect on mortgage interest rates, as nearly all term rates have fallen by 0.05%. It’s not much, but it’s a start.