Mortgage application activity soared for the week ending Feb. 28 thanks largely to corybantic refinance activity, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Market Composite Index, the MBA’s measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 20.4% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index was up by 22%.
The upswing was fueled by refinancing – the MBA’s Refinance Index increased 37% from the previous week and was 83% higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity jumped to 43.8% of total applications from 38.9% the previous week.
Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, observed, “Refinance activity was at its fastest pace since October 2024, as conventional refinance applications rose 34% and government refinance applications increased by 42% over the week. The move in government refinances was driven by a 75% increase in VA loans, which have been prone to large changes in recent months.”
In comparison, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 9% from one week earlier while the unadjusted Purchase Index increased 12% – the latter was also 2% higher than the same week one year ago. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity accounted for 5.8% of total applications.
“This is a period where we typically see purchase activity ramp up and purchase applications were up over the week and continued to run ahead of last year’s pace, more green shoots as we head into the spring homebuying season,” Kan added.
Among the federal programs, the FHA share of total applications decreased to 16.7% from 17.4% the week prior while the VA share of total applications increased to 14.6% from 13.4% and the USDA share of total applications remained unchanged at 0.5%.
