— Mortgage applications increased 6.3 percent from one
week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage
Applications Survey for the week ending November 22, 2024.The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 6.3 percent on
a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index increased 3
percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 3 percent from the previous
week and was 119 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase
Index increased 12 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 7 percent
compared with the previous week and was 52 percent higher than the same week one year ago.“Purchase activity drove overall applications higher last week, as conventional purchase applications
picked up pace and mortgage rates declined for the first time in over two months, with the 30-year fixed
rate dropping slightly to 6.86 percent,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.
With the growth in for-sale inventory and signs that the economy remains strong, buyers have remained
in the market even though rates have increased recently. The increase in conventional purchase
applications helped push the average purchase loan size to $439,200, its highest level in almost a month.
The decline in refinance activity was driven by pullbacks in FHA and VA refinances. Applications were
significantly higher than a year ago by most measures, but this was compared to the week of
Thanksgiving 2023, which was a week earlier than this year’s holiday.”
…
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances
($766,550 or less) decreased to 6.86 percent from 6.90 percent, with points remaining unchanged at 0.70
(including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans.
emphasis added
Click on graph for larger image.
The first graph shows the MBA mortgage purchase index.
According to the MBA, purchase activity is up 52% year-over-year unadjusted (due to timing of Thanksgiving – this will be down sharply next week).
