Mortgage Applications Increase in Latest MBA Weekly Survey

WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 10, 2021) - Mortgage applications increased 5.5 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 5, 2021.  

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 5.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 5 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index increased 7 percent from the previous week and was 28 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 0.1 percent compared with the previous week and was 4 percent lower than the same week one year ago.

"Mortgage rates moved lower for the second week in a row for all loan types. The 30-year fixed rate decreased to 3.16 percent and has declined 14 basis points over the past two weeks. Although overall activity remains close to January 2020 lows, homeowners acted on the decrease in rates. Refinance activity was up 7 percent overall, with gains in both conventional and government refinances. Additionally, the average loan balance for a refinance application was the highest in a month," said Joel Kan, MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. "Purchase applications were also strong last week, increasing just under 3 percent and down only 4 percent from last year's pace. The dip in rates might have helped to bring some buyers back into the market, but housing inventory is still extremely low and price growth remains elevated."

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 63.5 percent of total applications from 61.9 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 3.1 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 8.8 percent from 9.2 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 10.2 percent from 9.9 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.5 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) decreased to 3.16 percent from 3.24 percent, with points remaining unchanged at  0.34 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent 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 $548,250) decreased to 3.26 percent from 3.29 percent, with points increasing to 0.32 from 0.27 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent 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 3.18 percent from 3.29 percent, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.38 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 2.52 percent from 2.58 percent, with points increasing to 0.33 from 0.29 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 2.82 percent from 2.88 percent, with points increasing to 0.25 from 0.11 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent 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 [email protected] or click here.

The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.