Mortgage Applications Drop in Week Ending February 4, 2022

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey (WMAS), for the week ending February 4, 2022, the Market Composite Index (a measure of mortgage loan application volume) decreased -8.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined -6.0% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased -7.0% from the previous week, and it was -52.0% lower than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index declined -10.0% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased -3.0% compared with the previous week, and it was -12.0% lower than the same week one year ago.

In remarks prepared for the release of this week’s WMAS, Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting said, “Mortgage rates continued to edge higher last week, with the 30-year fixed rate climbing to 3.83 percent. Rates followed the U.S. 10-year yield and other sovereign bonds as the Federal Reserve and other key global central banks responded to growing inflationary pressures and signaled that they will start to remove accommodative policies. With rates 87 basis points higher than the same week a year ago, refinance applications continued to decrease. Purchase activity slowed after the previous week’s gain. Both conventional and FHA purchase applications saw proportional declines, resulting in purchase activity overall dropping 10 percent. The average loan size again hit another record high at $446,000. Activity continues to be dominated by larger loan balances, as inventory remains tight for entry-level buyers.”