Mortgage Application Activity Inches Up Again

Mortgage application activity inched up for the week ending July 18, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index rose by 1% compared with the previous week.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index was up by 4% – the latter was also 22% higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index decreased 3% from the previous week and was 22% higher than the same week one year ago, while the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 39.6% of total applications from 41.1% the previous week.

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 18.7% from 19% the week prior as the VA share of total applications remained unchanged at 12.6% and the USDA share of total applications increased to 0.6% from 0.5% the week prior.

Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, observed, “After reaching $460,000 in March 2025, the purchase loan amount has fallen to its lowest level since January 2025 to $426,700. With the 30-year fixed rate still too high to benefit many borrowers, refinance applications were down almost 3% for the week.”