MBA Weekly Survey Sept. 13: Mortgage Applications Decrease

Mortgage applications decreased 0.8 percent from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 8, 2023.

This week’s results included an adjustment for the Labor Day holiday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 12 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 5 percent from the previous week and was 31 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 11 percent compared with the previous week and was 27 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 29.1 percent of total applications from 30.0 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.5 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 14.2 percent from 13.7 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications remained unchanged at 11.3 percent from the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4 percent from 0.6 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($726,200 or less) increased to 7.27 percent from 7.21 percent, with points increasing to 0.72 from 0.69 (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 $726,200) increased to 7.25 percent from 7.21 percent, with points decreasing to 0.72 from 0.76 (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 7.04 percent from 7.03 percent, with points increasing to 0.98 from 0.95 (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 6.72 percent from 6.66 percent, with points increasing to 1.01 from 0.86 (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 6.59 percent from 6.33 percent, with points increasing to 1.16 from 1.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

Click here to purchase a subscription of MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey. 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. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.