Mortgage Applications Increase in the Week Ending March 1st

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Application Survey for the week ending Friday, March 1st, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—increased 9.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 12.0% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 8.0% from one week ago but was 2.0% lower than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 11.0% compared with one week ago. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 13.0% compared with the previous week but was 18.0% lower than the same week one year ago.

Adding his analysis to this week’s survey results, MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said:

“The latest data on inflation was not markedly better nor worse than expected, which was enough to bring mortgage rates down a bit, with the 30-year fixed mortgage rate declining slightly last week to 7.02%. Mortgage applications were up considerably relative to the prior week, which included the President’s Day holiday. Of note, purchase volume—particularly for FHA loans—was up strongly, again showing how sensitive the first-time homebuyer segment is to relatively small changes in the direction of rates. Other sources of housing data are showing increases in new listings, which is a real positive for the spring buying season given the lack of for-sale inventory.”