MBA: Mortgage Application Payments Decrease Slightly in August
Homebuyer affordability improved modestly in August, with the national median payment applied for by purchase applicants decreasing to $2,162 from $2,175 in July. This is according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI), which measures how new monthly mortgage payments vary across time – relative to income – using data from MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey (WAS).
“Homebuyer affordability improved slightly in August, as a decline in the median purchase loan amount helped offset the impact of higher mortgage rates,” said Edward Seiler, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Housing Economics and Executive Director of the Research Institute for Housing America (RIHA). “Affordability also improved compared to a year ago as earnings growth outpaced the increase in mortgage payments. However, conditions remain challenging, with 27 states seeing affordability decline in August. Looking ahead, meaningful and sustained improvements in affordability will depend on a combination of lower mortgage rates, continued income growth, and moderating home-price growth.”
An increase in MBA’s PAPI – indicative of declining borrower affordability conditions – means that the mortgage payment to income ratio (PIR) is higher due to increasing application loan amounts, rising mortgage rates, or a decrease in earnings. A decrease in the PAPI – indicative of improving borrower affordability conditions – occurs when loan application amounts decrease, mortgage rates decrease, or earnings increase.
The national PAPI (Figure 1) decreased 0.6% to 154.3 in August from 155.2 in July. While payments increased 2.9%, earnings growth of 4.1% means that the PAPI is down (affordability is higher) 1.1% on an annual basis. For borrowers applying for lower-payment mortgages (the 25th percentile), the national mortgage payment decreased to $1,492 in August from $1,512 in July.
The Builders’ Purchase Application Payment Index (BPAPI) showed that the median mortgage payment for purchase mortgages from MBA’s Builder Application Survey increased to $2,214 in August from $2,210 in July.
Additional Key Findings of MBA’s Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI) – August 2026
- The national median mortgage payment was $2,162 in August 2026—down $13 from July. It was up by $62 from one year ago, equal to a 2.9% increase.
- The national median mortgage payment for FHA loan applicants was $1,856 in August, down from $1,901 in July and down from $1,863 in August 2025.
- The national median mortgage payment for conventional loan applicants was $2,188, up from $2,184 in July and up from $2,112 in August 2025.
- The top five states with the highest PAPI were: Idaho (258.6), Nevada (229.8), Rhode Island (213.7), Arizona (204.0), and Tennessee (193.5).
- The top five states with the lowest PAPI were: D.C. (113.9), Louisiana (114.2), W. Virginia (120.8), Connecticut (124.5), and New York (125.3).
- Homebuyer affordability increased for Black households, with the national PAPI decreasing from 155.8 in July to 154.9 in August.
- Homebuyer affordability increased for Hispanic households, with the national PAPI decreasing from 143.6 in July to 142.7 in August.
- Homebuyer affordability increased for White households, with the national PAPI decreasing from 157.9 in July to 157.0 in August.
About MBA’s Purchase Applications Payment Index
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI) measures how new mortgage payments vary across time relative to income. Higher index values indicate that the mortgage payment to income ratio (PIR) is higher than in a month where the index is lower. Contrary to other affordability indexes that make multiple assumptions about mortgage underwriting criteria to estimate mortgage payment level, PAPI directly uses MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey (WAS) data to calculate mortgage payments.
PAPI uses usual weekly earnings data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey (CPS). Usual weekly earnings represent full-time wage and salary earnings before taxes and other deductions and include any overtime pay, commissions, or tips usually received. Note that data are not seasonally adjusted.
MBA’s Builders’ Purchase Application Payment Index (BPAPI) uses MBA’s Builder Application Survey (BAS) data to create an index that measures how new mortgage payments vary across time relative to income, with a focus exclusively on newly built single-family homes. As with PAPI, higher index values indicate that the mortgage payment to income ratio (PIR) is higher than in a month where the index is lower. To create BPAPI, principal and interest payment amounts are deflated by the same earnings series as in PAPI.
The rent data series calculated for MBA’s national mortgage payment to rent ratio (MPRR) comes from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Housing Vacancies and Homeownership (HVS) survey’s median asking rent.
For additional information on MBA’s Purchase Applications Payment Index, click here.
