Including an adjustment for the Christmas holiday, mortgage applications fell 21.9% in the week ending December 27, 2024, compared to two weeks earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), which released its updated Market Composite Index this morning.
The measure of mortgage loan application volume decreased 55% compared with two weeks ago on an unadjusted basis, with the holiday-adjusted refinance component decreasing 36% and the purchase component decreasing 13% from two weeks ago.
“Mortgage rates moved higher through the last full week of 2024, reaching almost 7 percent for 30-year fixed-rate loans,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and Chief Economist. “Not surprisingly, this increase in rates – at a time when housing activity typically grinds to a halt – resulted in declines in both refinance and purchase applications.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 39.4% of total applications from 44.3% the previous week, while the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 5.2% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 16.6% from 17.2% the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 15.7% from 15.2% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4% from 0.5% the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($766,550 or less) increased to 6.97% from 6.89%, with points increasing to 0.72 from 0.67 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
Meanwhile, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $766,550) increased to 7.13% from 6.99%, with points increasing to 0.64 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 6.69% from 6.68%, with points increasing to 1.05 from 0.77 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans.
