Mortgage Application Activity Rises by 6.3%

Mortgage applications were on the rise in new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) covering the week ending Nov. 22.

The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 6.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index was up by 3%.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index rose by 12% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index inched up by 7% – the latter was also 52% higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index decreased 3% from the previous week – although it was also 119% higher than the same week one year ago – and the refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 38.8% of total applications from 41% the previous week.

Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 16% from 16.6% the week prior while the VA share of total applications decreased to 12.4% from 13.6% and the USDA share of total applications increased to 0.5% from 0.4%.

Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, noted, “With the growth in for-sale inventory and signs that the economy remains strong, buyers have remained in the market even though rates have increased recently. The increase in conventional purchase applications helped push the average purchase loan size to $439,200, its highest level in almost a month. The decline in refinance activity was driven by pullbacks in FHA and VA refinances. Applications were significantly higher than a year ago by most measures, but this was compared to the week of Thanksgiving 2023, which was a week earlier than this year’s holiday.”

Separately, the MBA reported that homebuyer affordability declined in October, with the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants increasing to $2,127 from $2,041 in September. The national median mortgage payment was $2,127 in October, up $86 from September but also down by $72 from one year ago, equal to a 3.3% decrease. The national median mortgage payment for conventional loan applicants was $2,134, up from $2,053 in September and down from $2,208 in October 2023, and the national median mortgage payment for FHA loan applicants was $1,842 in October, up from $1,753 in September and down from $1,955 in October 2023.