Homeowners seeking refinancing drove the increased volume of mortgage applications for the week ending Sept. 20, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 11% on both a seasonally adjusted and unadjusted basis from one week earlier.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 1% while the unadjusted index inched up by 0.4% – the latter was also 2% higher than the same week one year ago. The Refinance Index increased 20% from the previous week and was 175% higher than the same week one year ago, while the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 55.7% of total applications from 51.2% the previous week.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 15% from 15.2% the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 18.3% from 16.8% and the USDA share of total applications dipped to 0.3% from 0.4% the week prior.
“Mortgage applications increased to their highest level since July 2022, boosted by a 20% increase in refinance applications after a large increase the prior week,” observed Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. “As a result of lower rates, week-over-week gains for both conventional and government refinance applications increased sharply.”
;
