Mortgage application activity declined during the week ending May 15, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, was down by 2.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index was 3% lower compared with the previous week.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index was 5% lower – the latter was also 8% higher than the same week one year ago.
The Refinance Index dipped by 0.1% from the previous week and was 35 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 41.9% of total applications from 40.8% in the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications remained unchanged at 17.9% from the week prior while the VA share of total applications decreased to 14.4% from 14.9% and the USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4% from 0.5%.
Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, observed. “Overall applications were down to the lowest level in five weeks as purchase borrowers pulled back across conventional and government loan types. Refinance applications were essentially unchanged, with a decline in government refinances and an increase in conventional refinancing, likely as the increase in rates came late in the week. Almost 10% of applications were for ARM loans, the highest share since October 2025, as borrowers sought loan types with lower rates, given that the ARM rate was 80 basis points below the 30-year fixed rate.”
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