With mortgage rates rising for the last three weeks, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is reporting another week of declining home purchase applications.
According to the latest Weekly Applications Survey, mortgage applications decreased 17.0% from one week earlier for the week ending October 11, 2024.
“Mortgage rates moved higher for the third consecutive week, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing to 6.52%, its highest level since August,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The recent uptick in rates has put a damper on applications. Refinance applications fell 26% to their lowest level since August, with comparable drops in both conventional and government refinances. This pushed the refinance share of applications back below 50% for the first time in over a month. Furthermore, purchase applications also decreased but notably remain 7% higher than a year ago.”
According to MBA’s report this week, the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 17.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 17% compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 26% from the previous week but registered at a notable 111% higher than the same week one year ago, MBA reported.
“Demand is holding up to an extent for prospective first-time buyers,” added Kan. “FHA purchase applications were little changed despite the increase in rates, as some first-time homebuyers remain in the market because of improving housing inventory conditions.”
More data from MBA this week: The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 46.5% of total applications from 52.4% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 5.9% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 15.9% from 16.2% the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 16.2% from 16.9% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.4% from the week prior.
MBA also breaks down mortgage application activity, tracking shares of FHA, VA, USDA, conforming loans, jumbo loans and more. To see the full list, visit: https://www.mba.org/news-and-research/newsroom/news/2024/10/16/mortgage-applications-decrease-in-latest-mba-weekly-survey
