According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell again last week. Rates were down from the week before for 30-year fixed-rate loans with conforming balances and loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. It was the eighth-straight week of declines. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says demand for loan applications jumped to a two-year high as a result. “Mortgage applications increased to their highest level since July 2022, boosted by a 20 percent increase in refinance applications after a large increase the prior week,†Kan said. Refinance activity is now 175 percent higher than it was at the same time last year. Purchase demand, on the other hand, is just 2 percent higher year-over-year, after a 1 percent increase last week. The MBA’s survey has been conducted weekly since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)
