Mortgage applications decreased 1.4% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Aug. 15. Without taking seasonal adjustments into account, the index decreased 2% compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 3% from the previous week but was 23% higher […]
Mortgage applications shrink as VA loan demand declines Read More »
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s Builder Application Survey data for July 2025, released on Monday, shows that mortgage applications for new-home purchases increased 6.8% compared from a year ago. Compared to June 2025, applications increased by 7%. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns. “Purchase activity for new homes strengthened in
New-home purchase mortgage demand kept growing in July Read More »
Housing inventory growth has been slowing down since the last two weeks of June, as mortgage rates have been trending lower. However, last week we saw an actual decline week to week, which is rare for this time of year compared to recent years. What does this mean? Has active inventory peaked? Our new listings
Did lower mortgage rates already lower housing inventory? Read More »
Mortgage applications don’t always fail with a formal rejection — many simply stall. A report released last month by Cotality found that homebuyer hesitation often predicts loan fallout, even without an official withdrawal. As a result, the property analytics firm found that 16% of buyers “ghosted” their mortgage applications last year — a trend attributed
Abandoned mortgage apps are on the upswing. Homebuyer confusion could be the culprit Read More »
Mortgage rates fell 0.18% last week, breaking below the key threshold of 6.64%. Why is this important? Because in the last three years, when mortgage rates fell from 6.64% to 6%, housing demand has improved. Now the question is: can rates go lower? 10-year yield and mortgage rates In my 2025 forecast, I anticipated the
How much lower can mortgage rates go after Friday’s jobs report? Read More »
Homebuyer affordability improved in June, as evidenced by the national median payment for purchase mortgage applicants decreasing to $2,172 — down from $2,211 in May. That’s according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)’s Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI), which measures how new monthly mortgage payments vary across time relative to income, using data from MBA’s
Mortgage application payments decline in June Read More »
Housing inventory growth is starting to stall, despite elevated mortgage rates. As new listings begin their seasonal decline, we might have already reached our peak percentage growth rate for 2025. The recent stalling has already gradually reduced the year-over-year growth percentage by a slight amount. For the rest of the year I’ll be watching to
Housing inventory growth is starting to stall Read More »
In a week marked by discussions of the potential firing of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and inflation data, mortgage rates remained relatively calm, thanks to improvements in mortgage spreads. Mortgage spreads have improved significantly since 2023, leaving us just 0.49% from normal levels, based on the data we use. This means we can achieve
Mortgage spreads are almost back to normal Read More »
Housing inventory decreased last week, while purchase application data grew 25% year-over-year! What is happening in the housing market? In the two weeks leading up to the July 4th holiday week, our weekly Housing Market Tracker showed that housing data was stabilizing as mortgage rates approached their lowest levels of the year. However, with July
Housing inventory actually fell last week. What is going on? Read More »
One of the most surprising pieces of housing economic data for 2025 is that purchase apps for the existing home sales market have shown 22 weeks of year-over-year growth. And that includes nine consecutive weeks of double-digit year-over-year growth in recent weeks. Normally, this would be a significant news story, but the confusion surrounding this
Why mortgage purchase apps are on a 22-week growth streak Read More »