US Mortgage Applications Decline in the Week Ending May 15

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, May 15, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—decreased 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3.0%.

The Refinance Index declined 0.1% from the previous week but was 35.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4.0% from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index increased 5.0% compared with the prior week and was 8.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

In remarks accompanying the release, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said:

“Ongoing concerns around inflation from higher fuel costs, combined with rising concerns over global public debt, pushed Treasury yields higher in the US and abroad last week. This resulted in higher mortgage rates across the board, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing to 6.56%, its highest level in seven weeks. Overall applications were down to the lowest level in five weeks as purchase borrowers pulled back across conventional and government loan types. Refinance applications were essentially unchanged, with a decline in government refinances and an increase in conventional refinancing, likely as the increase in rates came late in the week.

Almost 10% of applications were for ARM loans, the highest share since October 2025, as borrowers sought loan types with lower rates, given that the ARM rate was 80 basis points below the 30-year fixed rate.”