Mortgage Applications Decrease 5.1% In Final Week Of July 2020

The Mortgage Bankers Association's latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey showed a 5.1% decrease in applications on an adjusted basis, for the week ending July 31, 2020. On an unadjusted basis, mortgage applications decreased by 5%.

The refinance index saw a 7% drop from the previous week, however, it remains 84% higher than the same week in 2019. The seasonally adjusted purchase decreased by 2% but was 22% higher than the same week in 2019.

“Mortgage rates dropped to another record low last week, falling below the previous record set three weeks ago to 3.14 percent. Refinance activity decreased – despite the decline in rates – but the current pace remains more than 80 percent higher than a year ago when rates were over 4 percent. MBA’s forecast calls for rates to remain at these low levels, which will continue to spur strong refinance activity and offer homeowners relief in the form of lower monthly mortgage payments during these uncertain economic times,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s AVP of economic and industry forecasting. “Purchase applications also fell slightly, but were still 20 percent higher than a year ago and have now risen year-over-year for 11 straight weeks. Purchase loan balances continued to climb, which is perhaps a sign that the still-weak job market and tighter credit for government loans are constraining some first-time homebuyers.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 63.9% of total applications, down from 65.1% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 3.1%, the FHA shared remained stagnant at 9.6% and the VA share also remained stagnant at 11.2%.

Click here to read the full MBA Weekly Mortgage Application Survey.