Mortgage application volume surged 16.8% last week as mortgage rates tumbled, with most of the increase coming from refinances, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey.
Applications for refinances increased 35% from the previous week and were up 118% compared with the same week one year ago.
Applications for purchases increased 3% compared with the previous week but were down 8% compared with the same week one year ago.
“Rates on both 30- and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased for the second consecutive week, and combined with the previous week’s rate moves, spurred another strong week for application activity as borrowers with higher rates took the opportunity to refinance,” explains Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist, in a statement. “Overall applications increased almost 17 percent to the highest level since January 2023, driven by a 35 percent increase in refinance applications.
“The refinance index also saw its strongest week since May 2022 and was 117 percent higher than a year ago, driven by gains in conventional, FHA, and VA applications,” Kan adds. “Additionally, purchase applications increased by 3 percent, with small gains seen across the various loan types, indicating that prospective homebuyers are slowly reentering the market.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 48.6% of total applications, up from 41.7% the previous week.
The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.3% of total applications.
For the week ended August 9, the average rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.54%, down from 6.55% the previous week.
Photo: Bruce Mars