U.S. Mortgage Applications Decrease for a Second Week
Summary
- Applications for loans to purchase and to refinance were both down in latest week.
- Interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate loans basically steady.
Mortgage loan applications fell 3.9% (+0.25% y/y) in the week ended July 26 following a 2.2% decline the week before. This is the fourth decline in the last five weeks. Applications for a loan to purchase a house decreased 1.5% (-13.8% y/y) in the July 26 week following a 4.0% reduction the week before. Applications to refinance a mortgage dropped 7.2% (+31.6% y/y) in this latest week after a modest 0.3% increase in the prior week. These data are from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
The effective interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans was 7.00% in the July 26 week, just barely higher than the prior week’s 6.99%. The effective rate on 15-year fixed-rate loans was 6.40% in the latest week, up from 6.34% the week before. The rate on 30-year Jumbo loans was 7.22% in the July 26 week, down a bit from 7.25% the prior week, while the rate on 5-year ARM loans was unchanged at 6.38%.
The share of applications to refinance an existing loan decreased slightly to 38.2% in the July 26 week from 39.7% the week before; these latest compare to a recent high of 39.7% the week ended December 15, 2023. The share of applications for ARMs edged lower to 5.7% in the July 26 week from 5.8% the prior week; a recent low for the ARM share was 5.4% in the week ended January 5.
The average size of mortgage loans in the July 26 week was $367,400, down modestly from $369,700 the week before and down 2.1% from a year ago. The average size of a loan to purchase a house was $425,800 (+0.6% y/y) in the latest week, down from $429,000 the prior week, and the size of a refinance loan was $273,000 (+6.6% y/y), down from $279,500 the week before.
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.
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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