Mortgage Applications Jumped in the February 28 Week
Summary
- Applications for loans to purchase and refinance rose sharply in the latest week.
- Effective interest rates on all mortgage loans fell in the latest week.
- Average loan sizes rose for both loans to purchase and to refinance.
Mortgage applications jumped 20.4% (28.7% y/y) in the week ending February 28, from a decline of 6.4% (+17.3% y/y) in the week ending February 21, revised from a weekly decline of 1.2% (+23.8% y/y). The data are from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house rose 9.1% (2.4% y/y) in the week ended February 28, after a decline of 8.1% (+3.8% y/y) in the February 21 week, revised from a rise of 0.2% (13.1% y/y). Applications to refinance existing mortgages jumped 37.0% (83.2% y/y) in the latest week from decline of 3.6% (+44.6% y/y) in the February 21 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed rate loan fell 15 basis points to 6.91% in the week ended February 28 from 7.06% in the week ended February 21. The last time the 30-year fixed rate was this low was in the weeks of December 6 and 13, 2024. The effective rate on a 15-year fixed rate loan was down 11 basis points to 6.28% from 6.39% the week before. The rate on a 30-year jumbo loan declined 13 basis points to 6.97% in the week ended February 28 from 7.10% in the week ended February 21, while the rate on a 5-year ARM decreased 20 basis points to 6.01% from 6.21% in the week ended February 21.
The share of applications to refinance an existing mortgage rose to 43.8% in the week ended February 28 from 38.9% in the February 21 week. The share of loans that have an adjustable rate rose to 5.8% in the latest week from 5.4% in the February 21 week.
The average size of a mortgage loan rose 3.7% (3.7% y/y) to $399,200 in the week ended February 28, from the 0.7% (3.0% y/y) rise to $384,900 in the week ended February 21. In the February 28 week, the average size of a loan to purchase a house was $448,300, up 1.6% (1.3% y/y) from $441,100 the week before; the size of a loan to refinance an outstanding mortgage jumped 13.4% (33.0% y/y) to $336,200 in the week ended February 28 from $296,600 in the week ended February 21.
The Mortgage Bankers Association Survey covers 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100. The figures for weekly mortgage applications and interest rates are available in Haver’s SURVEYS database.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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