Mortgage application activity improved slightly during the week ending June 20 thanks to an uptick in refinancing, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 1.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index dropped by 10% compared with the previous week.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.4% from the prior week while the unadjusted index declined by 11% – the latter was also 12% higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index increased 3% from the previous week and was 29% higher than the same week one year ago, while the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 38.4% of total applications from 37.3% in the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications increased to 19.3% from 17.8% the week prior while the VA share of total applications decreased to 11.7% from 12.1% and the USDA share of total applications dipped to 0.5% from 0.6%.
Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, observed, “Applications increased slightly overall driven by FHA refinances, but conventional applications saw declines over the week. The average loan size for purchase applications declined to $436,300, the lowest level since January 2025, driven by decreasing conventional purchase loan sizes.”
