U.S. Mortgage Applications Edged Up in the February 20
Summary
- Applications for loans to purchase declined in the latest week while refinancing loan applications rose.
- Effective interest rate on 30-year fixed loans declined 9bp to 6.24%.
- Average loan size edged up.
Mortgage applications rose 0.4% w/w (69.1% y/y) in the week ending February 20 after rising 2.8% w/w (57.7% y/y) in the week ending February 13, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house declined 4.7% w/w (+13.1% y/y) in the latest week, following a decline of 2.7% w/w (+9.1% y/y) in the prior week. Applications for loan refinancing rose 4.1% w/w (150.3% y/y) in the week ending February 20, after rising 7.1% w/w (131.8% y/y) in the February 13 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan dropped 9bps to 6.24% in the week ending February 20 from 6.33% in the week ending February 13. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages edged down 2bps to 5.66% in the latest week from 5.68% in the prior week. The 30-year Jumbo rate rose 3bps to 6.32% in the February 20 week from 6.29% in the February 13 week. The rate on a 5-year ARM dropped 14bps to 5.38% in the week ending February 20 from 5.52% in the week ending February 13, reaching the lowest level since September 2022.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan rose to 58.6% of total applications in the February 20 week from 57.4% in the February 13 week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity was unchanged at 8.2% in the February 20 week from the prior week.
The average size of a mortgage loan edged up 0.4% w/w (8.3% y/y) to $416,800 in the week ending February 20, after rising 2.3% w/w (8.6% y/y) to $415,100 in the week ending February 13. The average size of a purchase loan declined 1.1% w/w (+0.4% y/y) to $442,900 in the latest week, after rising 0.7% w/w (2.0% y/y) to $448,000 in the week ending February 13. The average size of a loan to refinance a mortgage rose 2.0% w/w (34.3% y/y) to $398,400 in the week ending February 20, after rising 4.1% w/w (34.1% y/y) to $390,700 in the week ending February 13.
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).
