US Mortgage Applications Fall in the Week Ending March 27

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, March 27, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—decreased 10.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 10.0%.

The Refinance Index decreased 17.0% from the previous week but was 33.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 3.0% from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index decreased 2.0% compared with the prior week but was 1.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

In remarks accompanying the release, MBA SVP and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said:

“The 30-year mortgage rate, now at 6.57%, reached its highest level since last August and is up half a percentage point from just one month ago. Refinance application volumes declined sharply again last week, dropping 17%, and are down more than 40% compared to last month. Seasonally adjusted purchase application volume also declined over the week, but only by 3%. The headwinds of higher rates are being offset somewhat by the buyer’s market in many parts of the country—there are more homes for sale than buyers have seen in some time. Moreover, purchase applications for FHA and VA loans continue to hold up better than those for conventional buyers. However, the shocks of the jump in rates and the increase in overall economic uncertainty are likely having an impact on buyer confidence.”