Mortgage Apps Decreased 14.2 Percent From One Week Earlier

Mortgage applications decreased 14.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 30, 2022. 

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 14.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 14 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 18 percent from the previous week and was 86 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 13 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 13 percent compared with the previous week and was 37 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

“Mortgage rates continued to climb last week, causing another pullback in overall application activity, which dropped to its slowest pace since 1997. The 30-year fixed rate hit 6.75 percent last week – the highest rate since 2006,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “The current rate has more than doubled over the past year and has increased 130 basis points in the past seven weeks alone. The steep increase in rates continued to halt refinance activity and is also impacting purchase applications, which have fallen 37 percent behind last year’s pace. Additionally, the spreads between the conforming rate compared to jumbo loans widened again, and we saw the ARM share rise further to almost 12 percent of applications.”

Added Kan, “There was also an impact from Hurricane Ian’s arrival in Florida last week, which prompted widespread closings and evacuations. Applications in Florida fell 31 percent, compared to 14 percent overall, on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.”   

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 29.0 percent of total applications from 30.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 11.8 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 13.2 percent from 12.5 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications remained unchanged at 10.7 percent from the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.6 percent from the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 6.75 percent from 6.52 percent, with points decreasing to 0.95 from 1.15 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $647,200) increased to 6.14 percent from 6.01 percent, with points increasing to 0.79 from 0.70 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 6.60 percent from 6.17 percent, with points increasing to 1.51 from 1.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.96 percent from 5.70 percent, with points decreasing to 1.08 from 1.33 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 5.36 percent from 5.30 percent, with points decreasing to 1.02 from 1.28 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.