Mortgage Applications Increase 0.5% in the Week Ending November 8th

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, November 8th, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—increased 0.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index declined 2.0% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 2.0% from the previous week but was 43.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2.0% compared to one week ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 2.0% compared with the previous week but was 1.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

Commenting on the results of this week’s survey, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said:

“Mortgage rates continued to increase last week, driven by higher Treasury yields as financial markets digested the likely impacts of a Trump presidency. The Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate cut was already anticipated and did little to move the markets. The 30-year fixed rate was at 6.86% last week, its highest since July 2024. However, despite the increase in rates, applications increased for the first time in seven weeks.

Purchase applications picked up and remained close to levels from a year ago. FHA and VA purchase applications drove the stronger overall purchase activity, increasing 3% and 9%, respectively. FHA mortgage rates bucked the overall trend and were lower over the week, which likely helped some borrowers. Conventional purchase applications were also up slightly. Meanwhile, the upward climb in rates led to refinance activity falling to its lowest level since May 2024.”