U.S. Mortgage Applications Rose in the August 7 Week
Summary
- Both applications for loans to purchase and applications for loan refinancing rose in the latest week.
- Interest rate on 30-year fixed-rate loans edged down 3bps to 6.96%, still at levels not seen since July/August 2025.
- Average loan size edged down.
Mortgage applications rose 3.6% w/w (-11.6% y/y) in the week ending August 7 after declining by 2.9% w/w (-5.3% y/y) in the week ending July 31, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey. Applications for loans to purchase a house rose 2.5% (-1.4% y/y) in the latest week following a decline of 3.6% w/w (-2.5% y/y) in the prior week. Applications for loan refinancing rose 5.0% w/w (-22.2% y/y) in the August 7 week after a decline of 1.9% w/w (-8.8% y/y) in the July 31 week.
The effective interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate loan edged down 3bps to 6.96% in the week ending August 7 from 6.99% in the week ending July 31, still remaining at levels not seen since July/August 2025. The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages inched up 1bp to 6.33% in the August 7 week from 6.32% in the July 31 week. The 30-year Jumbo rate edged down 4ps to 6.83% in the latest week from 6.87% in the July 31 week. The rate on a 5-year ARM declined by 10bps to 6.30% in the August 7 week from 6.40% in the July 31 week.
The share of applications for refinancing an existing loan rose to 40.7% of total applications in the week of August 7 from 39.9% in the week ending July 31. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity stayed unchanged at 7.9% in the latest week from the July 31 week.
The average size of a mortgage edged down 0.7% w/w (-4.9% y/y) to $379,300 in the week ending August 7 after declining 0.8% w/w (+0.1% y/y) to $381,800 in the week ending July 31. The average size of a purchase loan inched down 0.2% w/w (+3.4% y/y) to $441,300 in the August 7 week after declining 0.7% w/w (+2.3% y/y) to $442,100 in the prior week. The average size of a loan to refinance a mortgage declined 0.7% w/w (-21.1% y/y) in the August 7 week to $289,200 following a slight decline of 0.2% w/w (-6.0% y/y) to $291,100 in the July 31 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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