U.S. Mortgage Applications Declined in the September 11 Week
Summary
- Applications for loans to purchase a house and applications for loan refinancing both declined in the latest week.
- Interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans rose 13bp to 7.18%.
- Average loan size fell moderately in the September 11 week.
Mortgage applications fell 4.1% w/w (-40.2% y/y) in the week ending September 11, after declining 2.7% w/w (-19.2% y/y) in the week ending September 4, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house fell 0.8% w/w (-10.2% y/y) in the latest week, after edging down 0.2% w/w (-6.9% y/y) in the September 4 week. Applications for loan refinancing fell 8.8% w/w (-60.7% y/y) in the September 11 week following a decline of 6.2% w/w (-32.1% y/y) in the September 4 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan rose 13bps to 7.18% in the week ending September 11 from 7.05% in the week ending September 4, reaching its highest level since late January 2025. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 15bps to 6.55% in the September 11 week from 6.40% in the September 4 week. The 30-year Jumbo rate rose 27bps to 7.20% in the latest week from 6.93% in the September 4 week. The rate on a 5-year ARM soared 46bps to 6.59% in the September 11 week from 6.13% in the September 4 week.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan fell to 39.4% of total applications in the week of September 11 from 40.9% in the week ending September 4. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity fell to 8.4% in the latest week from 8.5% in the September 4 week.
The average size of a mortgage fell 0.5% w/w (-16.3% y/y) to $378,400 in the week ending September 11, after rising 2.1% w/w (-5.2% y/y) to $380,200 in the week ending September 4. The average size of a purchase loan declined 0.7% w/w to $442,500 in the September 11 week after rising 1.5% w/w to $445,600 in the September 4 week. The average size of a loan to refinance a mortgage fell 2.1% w/w to $279,800 in the week ending September 11 after rising 2.1% w/w to $285,800 in the September 4 week.
The Mortgage Bankers Association Survey covers 75% of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. The base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100. The figures for weekly mortgage applications and interest rates are available in Haver’s SURVEYS database.
Kathleen Stephansen, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Kathleen Stephansen is a Senior Economist for Haver Analytics and an Independent Trustee for the EQAT/VIP/1290 Trust Funds, encompassing the US mutual funds sponsored by the Equitable Life Insurance Company. She is a former Chief Economist of Huawei Technologies USA, Senior Economic Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, Chief Economist of the American International Group (AIG) and AIG Asset Management’s Senior Strategist and Global Head of Sovereign Research. Prior to joining AIG in 2010, Kathleen held various positions as Chief Economist or Head of Global Research at Aladdin Capital Holdings, Credit Suisse and Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette Securities Corporation.
Kathleen serves on the boards of the Global Interdependence Center (GIC), as Vice-Chair of the GIC College of Central Bankers, is the Treasurer for Economists for Peace and Security (EPS) and is a former board member of the National Association of Business Economics (NABE). She is a member of Chatham House and the Economic Club of New York. She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from the Universite Catholique de Louvain and graduate degrees in economics from the University of New Hampshire (MA) and the London School of Economics (PhD abd).
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