US Mortgage Applications Fall in the Week Ending May 22

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, May 22, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—decreased 8.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 9%.

The Refinance Index decreased 18% from the previous week but was 19% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.4% from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index decreased 2% compared with the prior week but was 5% higher than the same week one year ago.

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

“The 30-year fixed rate has increased 30 basis points over the past five weeks to its highest level since August 2025. With the rate now at 6.65%, many borrowers understandably backed away from refinancing last week. There were large declines in applications across loan types—conventional refinances were down 14%, along with an 18% decrease for FHA applications and a 34% decrease for VA applications. Overall, refinance applications accounted for 38% of applications, the lowest share since June 2025.

Purchase applications were slightly lower across all loan types but still ran at a stronger pace than last year’s pace. The average loan size for a purchase application reached another survey high at $473,600, as borrowers with smaller loan sizes were less active given the higher rate environment and its negative impact on their purchasing power.”