Mortgage applications saw a marginal uptick of 0.3% for the week ending Nov. 24, 2023, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. The results, however, have been adjusted to account for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Market Composite Index, which serves as a mortgage loan application volume gauge, also increased by 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the prior week. However, on an unadjusted basis, the index exhibited a notable 33% decline when compared to the previous week.
The Refinance Index, reflecting refinancing applications, showed a 9% decrease from the prior week, though it remained 1% higher than the same week in the previous year. In contrast, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index, measuring purchase applications, recorded a 5 percent increase from the previous week.
On an unadjusted basis, the Purchase Index reported a 31% decrease compared to the prior week, remaining 19% lower than the same week in the previous year.
“Mortgage rates decreased for the fourth time in five weeks, with the 30-year fixed rate dipping to 7.37%, the lowest level in 10 weeks. There was a slight increase in applications overall, driven by a five percent increase in purchase applications, but refinance applications decreased over the week,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s deputy chief economist. “Rates have declined more than 50 basis points over the past six weeks, which has helped to spur a small increase in purchase applications, but activity last week was still around 20% lower than a year ago. The purchase market remains depressed because of the ongoing low supply of existing homes on the market. Similarly, refinance activity will likely be muted for some time, even with the recent decline in rates, as many borrowers locked in much lower rates in 2020 and 2021.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 30.6% of total applications, down from 32.4% the previous week. Meanwhile, the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 8.1% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 13.5% from 14.8% in the prior week, while the VA share increased to 12.6% from 11.3%. The USDA share of total applications increased slightly, rising to 0.5% from 0.4% in the previous week.
