Mortgage application activity took a tumble while homeowner equity was on the rise in a pair of newly published data reports.
Mortgage applications decreased 6.2% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 14, 2025.
The Market Composite Index, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 6.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending March 14 compared to the previous week. On an unadjusted basis, the index dropped by an 6% compared with the previous week.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index inched up by a scant 0.1% from one week earlier while the unadjusted index saw a 1% uptick – the latter was also 6% higher than the same week one year ago. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity decreased to 6.7% of total applications.
The Refinance Index fell 13% from the previous week, although it was also 70% higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 42% of total applications from 45.6% the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications increased to 16.5% from 16.1% the week prior while the VA share of total applications decreased to 14.6% from 15.9% and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.4%.
Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s senior vice president and chief economist, observed, “Overall, purchase application volume is up 6% compared to last year at this time. Growing inventories of homes on the market and steadier mortgage rates are supporting homebuying activity thus far this spring.”
Separately, CoreLogic’s latest Homeowner Equity Report found borrower equity increased by $281.9 billion during the fourth quarter of 2024, a 1.7% year-over-year rise. The average borrower had $303,000 in home equity by the close of 2024 and gained $4,100 in equity.
The states that saw the largest gains in equity were New Jersey (up by $39,400 on average); Connecticut (up by $36,300) and Massachusetts (up by $34,400). The largest losses were in Hawaii (down by $28,700); Florida (down $18,100) and the District of Columbia (down by $14,700). Roughly 61% of all residential properties carry a mortgage.
However, CoreLogic also found 1.1 million mortgaged properties had negative equity in the fourth quarter, up 9.3% from the third quarter and up 7% from the fourth quarter of 2023. By the end of the fourth quarter, the national aggregate value of negative equity totaled $338 billion.
“Housing equity growth slowed in 2024 versus 2020-2023 due to moderating price appreciation, but homeowners maintain substantial equity gains from prior years, preserving their strong financial position,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist for CoreLogic.
