Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey
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Mortgage applications increased 20.4% from one week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 28, 2025.
The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 20.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 22% compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 37% from the previous week and was 83% higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 9% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 12% compared with the previous week and was 2% higher than the same week one year ago.
“Mortgage rates declined last week on souring consumer sentiment regarding the economy and increasing uncertainty over the impact of new tariffs levied on imported goods into the U.S. Those factors resulted in the largest weekly decline in the 30-year fixed rate since November 2024. At 6.73%, the rate is now at its lowest level since December 2024,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Additionally, the FHA rate dipped to 6.42%. Refinance activity was at its fastest pace since October 2024, as conventional refinance applications rose 34% and government refinance applications increased by 42% over the week. The move in government refinances was driven by a 75% increase in VA loans, which have been prone to large changes in recent months.”
Added Kan, “This is a period where we typically see purchase activity ramp up and purchase applications were up over the week and continued to run ahead of last year’s pace, more green shoots as we head into the spring homebuying season.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.8% of total applications from 38.9% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 5.8% of total applications.
The FHA share of total applications decreased to 16.7% from 17.4% the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 14.6% from 13.4% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.5% from the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) decreased to 6.73% from 6.88%, with points decreasing to 0.60 from 0.61 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $806,500) decreased to 6.83% from 7.00%, with points increasing to 0.47 from 0.37 (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 6.42% from 6.57%, with points decreasing to 0.79 from 0.80 (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 6.12% from 6.25%, with points increasing to 0.64 from 0.59 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.
The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 5.85% from 6.05%, with points decreasing to 0.41 from 0.44 (including the origination fee) for 80% LTV loans. The effective rate decreased 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.
