U.S. Mortgage Applications Jumped in Week Ended June 7
by:Sandy Batten
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- First weekly increase in past three weeks
- Led by biggest weekly gain in refinancing applications since Jan 2023
- 15-year mortgage rate fell 17bps
Mortgage applications jumped 15.6% w/w (-0.1% y/y) in the week ended June 7, more than offsetting declines in each of the previous two weeks. This was the largest weekly gain since January 13, 2023. The level of applications was the highest since the week ended February 2, 2024. Applications for home purchase rose 8.6% w/w (-11.9% y/y), the first increase in five weeks. Applications for refinancing surged 28.4% w/w (+27.8% y/y), their first increase in three weeks and the largest since January 13, 2023. These data came from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan fell 5bps to 7.21% in the week ended June 7. This compared to a recent high of 8.12% in mid-October of last year and a recent low of 6.87% in the fourth week of December. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell 17bps to 6.74% from 6.91% in the week prior. The rate on 30-year Jumbo loans was unchanged at 7.33% last week, while the rate on the 5-year ARM increased 15bps to 6.75%.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan increased to 35.2% in the week ended June 7, the highest since February 2, 2024, from 31.1% in the prior week. That compared to a recent high of 39.7% in mid-December. The percentage of applications which were ARMs fell to 6.3% from 6.7% in the previous week. The recent low of 5.4% was reached in early January.
The average loan size slipped 0.6% w/w to $373,200 in the week ended June 7, the lowest level since mid-January and the fourth weekly decline in the past five weeks. The average loan for purchase slipped 0.3% w/w to $428,700, also the fourth weekly decline in the past five seeks, while the average loan for refinancing increased 6.5% w/w to $271,100, the highest level since early March and he first weekly increase in the past three weeks.
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
Sandy Batten
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Sandy Batten has more than 30 years of experience analyzing industrial economies and financial markets and a wide range of experience across the financial services sector, government, and academia. Before joining Haver Analytics, Sandy was a Vice President and Senior Economist at Citibank; Senior Credit Market Analyst at CDC Investment Management, Managing Director at Bear Stearns, and Executive Director at JPMorgan. In 2008, Sandy was named the most accurate US forecaster by the National Association for Business Economics. He is a member of the New York Forecasters Club, NABE, and the American Economic Association. Prior to his time in the financial services sector, Sandy was a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Senior Staff Economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy at the US Treasury, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. Sandy has taught economics at St. Louis University, Denison University, and Muskingun College. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in a wide range of academic publications. He has a B.A. in economics from the University of Richmond and a M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from The Ohio State University.
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