Mortgage Application Activity Heats Up

Mortgage application activity was on the rise in the latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) for the week ending Jan. 31.

The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, inched up 2.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index soared 19% compared with the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index increased 15% compared with the previous week – the latter was 0.2% higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index increased 12% from the previous week and was 17% higher than the same week one year ago, while the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 39.0% of total applications from 37.1% the previous week.

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 16.2% from 16.7% the week prior while the VA share of total applications inched up to 13.3% from 13.2% and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.5%.

Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, observed, “Purchase activity had a tougher week, with declines across all loan types. The average loan size for a purchase loan has increased since the start of the year and continued that trend last week with weaker government purchase activity, which reached $447,300, the highest level since October 2024.”