Mortgage Applications Increased Last Week as Rates Continued to Fall

Mortgage application volume increased 2.8% during the week ended December 1, as the average rate for a 30-year, fixe-rate mortgage fell to 7.17%, down from 7.37% the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Applications Survey.

Last week’s results include an adjustment for the observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Applications for refinances increased 14% from the previous week and were up 10% compared with the same week one year earlier.

Applications for purchases decreased 0.3% compared with the previous week and were down 17% compared with a year ago.

“Mortgage rates declined last week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage falling to 7.17 percent – the lowest level since August 2023,” says Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist for the MBA, in a statement. “Slower inflation, and financial markets anticipating the potential end of the Fed’s hiking cycle, are both behind the recent decline in rates.”

“Refinance applications saw the strongest week in two months, increasing on a year-over-year basis for the second consecutive week for the first time since late 2021,” Kan says. “The overall level of refinance applications is still very low, but recent increases could signal that 2023 was the low point in this cycle for refinance activity, consistent with our originations forecast. Purchase applications remained 17 percent lower than a year ago, held back by low inventory and still-challenging affordability conditions.”  

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 34.7% of total applications, up from 30.6% the previous week.

The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 7.4% of total applications.

Photo: Jungwoo Hong