Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

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Mortgage applications decreased 1.6% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 28, 2025. 

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 1% compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 6% from the previous week and was 57% higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 2% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2% compared with the previous week and was 9% higher than the same week one year ago.

“Treasury yields continue to be volatile as economic uncertainty dominates markets. Most mortgage rates finished last week lower, with the 30-year fixed essentially unchanged at 6.70%. Last week’s level of purchase applications was its highest since the end of January, driven by a 3% increase in conventional purchases, while government purchase applications were down 2%,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Overall purchase activity has shown year-over-year growth for more than two months as the inventory of existing homes for sale continues to increase, a positive development for the housing market despite the uncertain near-term outlook. Refinance applications were down almost 6% last week and remain very sensitive to rate movements, as most borrowers have mortgages with lower rates.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 38.6% of total applications from 40.4% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 6.5% of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 15.8% from 16.5% the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 14.4% from 14.5% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.5% from 0.6% the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) decreased to 6.7%from 6.71%, with points increasing to 0.62 from 0.60 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate remained unchanged from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $806,500) decreased to 6.76% from 6.77%, with points decreasing to 0.49 from 0.50 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.  

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 6.37% from 6.4%, with points increasing to 0.81 from 0.74 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.04% from 6.08%, with points decreasing to 0.61 from 0.67 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs increased to 6.04% from 5.89%, with points decreasing to 0.57 from 0.59 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

If you would like to purchase a subscription of MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey, please visit www.mba.org/WeeklyApps, contact mbaresearch@mba.org or click here.

The survey covers U.S. closed-end residential mortgage applications originated through retail and consumer direct channels.  The survey has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks, thrifts, and credit unions. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.