US Mortgage Applications Rise in the Week Ending March 6

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending Friday, March 6, the Market Composite Index—a measure of mortgage loan application volume—increased 3.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 4.1%.

The Refinance Index increased 0.5% from the previous week but was 81.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 7.8% from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index increased 9.3% compared with the prior week but was 11.0% higher than the same week one year ago.

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

“Financial markets were volatile last week amid the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East. Mortgage rates increased on net over the week, while refinance volume was roughly flat. Borrowers in recent weeks were able to get 30-year conforming rates below 6%, but with the current volatility, longer-term rates have moved up, pushing up the 30-year fixed rate to 6.19%. Purchase activity increased last week, particularly for FHA loans, which moved up more than 11%. The pace of homebuying continues to track ahead of last year’s pace, with overall purchase volume up 10%. More inventory on the market is supporting more transactions.”