Mortgage Applications Decline in the Week Ending September 27th

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey for the week ending Friday, September 27th, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—decreased 1.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined 1.0% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 3.0% from the previous week but was 186.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1.0% compared to one week ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1.0% compared with the previous week and was 9.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

Commenting on the results of the survey, MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said:

“Last week’s incoming data showed an economy that is still growing at a solid pace, even as inflation continues to decline. As a result, mortgage rates were up modestly, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate increasing slightly to 6.14%. With this move, refinance application volume declined on the week but remains almost three-times as high as last year’s pace.

The news for the week was that more homebuyers appear to be entering the market. Purchase application activity was up for the week and increased more than 9% compared to last year at this time. Inventories of both new and existing homes have been increasing over the course of 2024, meaning that potential buyers have properties to look at and now have somewhat lower mortgage rates leading to better affordability.”