Mortgage Applications Rise in the Week Ending September 20th—Fifth Consecutive Increase

According to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, September 20th, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—increased 11.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 11.0% compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 20.0% from the previous week and was 175.0% 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 0.4% compared with the previous week and was 2.0% 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 applications increased to their highest level since July 2022, boosted by a 20% increase in refinance applications after a large increase the prior week. The 30-year fixed rate decreased for the eighth straight week to 6.13%, while the FHA rate decreased to 5.99%, breaking the psychologically important 6% level. As a result of lower rates, week-over-week gains for both conventional and government refinance applications increased sharply. The refinance share of applications is now at 55.7%, and while the level of refinance activity is still modest compared to prior refi waves, they now account for the majority of applications, given the seasonal slowdown in purchase activity.

Average loan sizes were higher both for purchase and refinance applications, which pushed the overall average loan size to its highest in the survey’s history at $413,100.”