U.S. Mortgage Loan Applications Fall Slightly in Sept. 27 Week
Summary
- Loan applications to purchase a house rose somewhat while applications to refinance fell.
- Rates changed only marginally in latest week.
- Loan size decreased modestly with refinancing size averaging somewhat lower.
Mortgage loan applications eased 1.3% (+64.0% y/y) in the week ended September 27 after the prior week’s 11% increase. Applications for loans to purchase a house rose 0.7% (+9.3% y/y) in the latest week after a 1.4% increase in the September 20 week, while applications to refinance an existing mortgage fell 2.9% (+185.9% y/y) in the September 27 week after the prior week’s surge of 20.3%. These data are from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.32% in the September 27 week, up 3 basis points from the prior week and the same as the September 13 week. These last three weeks are the lowest since 6.23% in the week of September 9, 2022, and compare to a recent high of 8.12% in the week of October 20, 2023. The effective rate on a 15-year fixed rate mortgage was 5.67% in the September 27 week, up from 5.60% during the two prior weeks; those 5.60% rates were the lowest since 5.52% in the September 9, 2022 week.
The share of loan applications to refinance an existing mortgage was 54.9% in the September 27 week, down slightly from the prior week’s 55.7%. The share of applications for ARMs was 5.8% in the September 27 week, down marginally from 5.9% the week before.
The average size of a mortgage loan application was $408,600 in the September 27 week, down slightly from $413,100 the prior week. The average size of a loan to purchase a house actually rose a bit in the September 27 week to $447,800 from $447,700 the week before. The average size of a loan to refinance did fall somewhat to $376,300 in the September 27 week from $385,600 the prior week.
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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