U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose in the August 28 Week
Summary
- Applications for loans to purchase rose and applications for loan refinancing declined in the latest week.
- Interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans edged up 1bp to 6.98%.
- Average loan size fell moderately in the August 28 week.
Mortgage applications rose 0.8% w/w (-9.2% y/y) in the week ending August 28, after declining 1.0% w/w (-11.1% y/y) in the week ending August 21, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house rose 2.2% w/w (-0.6% y/y) in the latest week, after inching down 0.3% w/w (-5.7% y/y) in the August 21 week. Applications for loan refinancing fell 1.1% w/w (-18.8% y/y) in the August 28 week following a decline of 2.0% w/w (-17.1% y/y) in the August 21 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan edged up 1bp to 6.98% in the week ending August 28 from 6.97% in the week ending August 21, remaining at levels not seen since July/August 2025. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 4bps to 6.36% in the August 28 week from 6.32% in the August 21 week. The 30-year Jumbo rate inched down1bp to 6.87% in the latest week from 6.88% in the August 21 week. The rate on a 5-year ARM dropped by 12bps to 6.18% in the August 28 week from 6.30% in the August 21 week.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan fell to 41.8% of total applications in the week of August 28 from 42.0% in the week ending August 21. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity rose to 8.0% in the latest week from 7.9% in the August 21 week.
The average size of a mortgage fell 0.9% w/w (-3.2% y/y) to $372,500 in the week ending August 28, after inching up 0.5% w/w (-1.8% y/y) to $376,000 in the week ending August 21. The average size of a purchase loan declined 1.1% w/w to $439,200 in the August 28 week after rising 0.8% w/w to $444,100 in the August 21 week. The average size of a loan to refinance a mortgage fell 0.8% w/w to $279,800 in the week ending August 28 after declining 0.1% w/w to $282,000 in the August 21 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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