Mortgage Applications Up 2.8% In Latest MBA Weekly Survey

Mortgage applications increased 2.8 percent from one week earlier, while the average interest rates on most loans also rose slightly, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 6, 2021.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 2.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index increased 3 percent from the previous week, but was 8 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent compared with the previous week, but was 18 percent lower than the same week one year ago. 

"Mortgage applications rebounded last week, including an increase in purchase applications for the first time in nearly a month,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president  of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Rates slightly rose, but remained below 3 percent, driven by an end-of-week increase in the 10-year Treasury yield following the positive July jobs report."

Kan said homeowners “continue to respond to lower rates, with refinance activity climbing to the highest level since February 2021." 

He added that last week’s higher level of purchase activity “was driven by more government purchase applications, including a 3.3 percent increase in FHA loans. With low for-sale inventory keeping home-price appreciation in many markets at record highs, the jump in FHA purchase applications is potentially a sign that more first-time buyers are finding purchase options despite the high prices." 

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 68 percent of total applications from 67.6 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 3.2 percent of total applications. 

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 8.9 percent from 9 percent the previous week. The VA share of total applications decreased to 9.6 percent from 9.9 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.5 percent the week prior.

The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks, and thrifts. The base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) increased to 2.99 percent from 2.97 percent, with points decreasing to 0.30 from  0.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

For more results from the MBA’s weekly survey, click here.