Applications for home purchases hit their fastest pace since September this week, despite a recent uptick in mortgage rates. Borrowers continue to shop for homes especially in markets where inventory has increased and price growth slowed, mortgage data watchers said.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reports that the market composite index—the measure of mortgage loan activity volume—increased 0.6% from one week earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Nov. 7, following last week’s 1.9% decrease. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1 percent compared with the previous week.
“Purchase applications picked up almost 6 percent over the week to the strongest pace since September, despite mortgage rates increasing slightly, with the 30-year fixed rate rising to 6.34 percent,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. “Purchase applications for conventional, FHA, and VA loans increased, as potential homebuyers continue to shop around, particularly in markets where inventory has increased and sales price growth has slowed. Based on the unadjusted purchase index for the week, this was the strongest start to November since 2022.”
The Refinance Index decreased 3% from the previous week and was 147% higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 6% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 3% compared with the previous week and was 31% higher than the same week one year ago.
Kan said this week’s data reflect a pullback from refis, which have seen ongoing strong activity as rates have ticked down to annual lows in recent weeks.
“Higher mortgage rates did quell some refinance activity, as conventional and VA refinance applications declined over the week, and the average loan size for refinances dropped to its lowest level in over a month,” Kan said.
The share of refinance applications decreased to 55.6% of total applications from 57% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.8% of total applications.
For the full report on this week’s data, click here.
