U.S. Mortgage Applications Rebounded in the First Week of 2024
Summary
- Total mortgage applications rose sharply in the first week of January.
- Applications for loans to purchase and to refinance also rose in the first week of 2024.
- The average effective rates on loans started the year higher than the last week in December.
Mortgage applications rebounded 9.9 % w/w (2.1% y/y) in the week ended January 5, largely reversing the decline of 10.7% w/w (-6.0% y/y) in the week of December 29. These data come from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house rose 5.6% (-6.8% y/y) in the week ended January 5, following the decline of 7.6% (-12.2% y/y) in the week ended December 29. Applications for refinancing a loan jumped 18.8% (30.2% y/y) in the latest week, reversing the 18.1% (+15.2% y/y) decline in the December 29 week.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan rose to 38.3% in the week ended January 5, following the decline to 36.3% in the week of December 29. The percentage of applications that were ARMs declined to 5.4% in the latest week, following the 6.0% share in the December 29 week.
The effective rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan inched up 4bps to 6.98% in the week ended January 5, from 6.94% in the week ended December 29. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 11bps to 6.55% in the latest week, up from 6.44% in the December 29 week, which was its lowest since mid-June 2023. The rate on 30-year Jumbo loan rose 14bps to 7.11% in the week ended January 5, from 6.97% the December 29 week. The rate on the 5-year ARM jumped 45bps to 6.38% in the week of January 5, partially erasing the 55bps drop to 5.93% in the week of December 29.
The average loan size declined 0.8% w/w (+1.0% y/y) to $353,500 in the January 5 week, following a decline of 3.0% w/w (+2.6% y/y) to $356,500 in the week ended December 29. The average size of a purchase loan declined 1.1% w/w (+3.6% y/y) to $402,900 in the week ended January 5, following a decline of 2.0% w/w (+5.1% y/y) to $407,200 in the week ended December 29. The average loan size to refinance a mortgage rose 2.5% w/w (4.8% y/y) to $274,100 in the latest week, after the 9.0% w/w (+4.7% y/y) drop to $267,500 in the week ended December 29.
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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