A pair of new data reports from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) found mortgage application activity and mortgage credit availability in decline.
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 10 compared to one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index increased 8% compared with the previous week.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index dropped 7% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index rose by 3% – the latter was also 2% lower than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index increased 4% from the previous week and was 7% higher than the same week one year ago, while the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 43.2% of total applications from 40.6% in the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications increased to 17.7% from 16.4% while the VA share of total applications inched up to 13.6% from 13.0% and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.5%.
The MBA also reported that its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) fell by 2.0% to 105.8 in June; the index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. The Conventional MCAI dipped 0.1% while the Government MCAI decreased by 4.6%. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI increased by 0.6%, and the Conforming MCAI fell by 2.2%.
“Mortgage credit availability decreased in June to its lowest level since December 2025,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. “A contraction in government loan programs accounted for a significant share of the June decrease, as lenders pulled back on FHA and VA streamline refinance loan programs, particularly those for high LTV and low credit score borrowers. The jumbo index increased slightly, supported by new non-QM programs, which is consistent with other market data showing a larger non-QM share of originations.”
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