Mortgage Application Volume Declines Further, ARM Shares Increase

Mortgage application volume moved lower for the third consecutive time during the week ended October 27 , losing another 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 3.0 percent decline in its mortgage volume index on an unadjusted basis.     The Refinance Index decreased 4 percent from the previous week and was 12 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity dipped to 31.2 percent of total applications from 31.4 percent the previous week. [refiappschart] The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 1.0 percent and 2.0 percent on an unadjusted basis. Purchase activity was 22 percent lower than during the same week in 2022. [purchaseappschart] “Mortgage applications declined for the third straight week as mortgage rates remained elevated, with all rates around 30 basis points higher than they were a month ago. The 30-year fixed rate dipped slightly to 7.86 percent but remained close to 23-year highs and has been above the 7-percent level since early August 2023,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The impact of higher rates continued to be felt across both purchase and refinance markets. Purchase applications decreased to their lowest level since 1995 and refinance applications to the lowest level since January 2023. Applications for government loans saw much larger weekly declines than conventional, with government purchase applications down 3 percent and refinances down 9 percent."


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