Mortgage Application Activity Continues To Slump

Mortgage applications activity continued to decline, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the week ending Oct. 20.

The Market Composite Index, the trade group’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, was down by 1% on both a seasonally adjusted and unadjusted basis from one week earlier. Both the seasonally adjusted and unadjusted Purchase Index dropped 2% from one week earlier, and the unadjusted index was also 22% lower than the same week one year ago.

The Refinance Index increased 2% from the previous week and was 8% lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 31.4% of total applications from 30.5% in the previous week.

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications increased to 15.2% from 14.8% the week prior while the VA share of total applications decreased to 10.5% from 10.7% and the USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4% from 0.5% the week prior.

Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, observed, “Mortgage activity continued to stall, with applications dipping to the slowest weekly pace since 1995. These higher mortgage rates are keeping prospective homebuyers out of the market and continue to suppress refinance activity. The ARM share of applications inched up to 9.5%, its highest since November 2022.”