Highest Rates in Decades Cut into Mortgage Volumes

Highest Rates in Decades Cut into Mortgage Volumes

The highest mortgage rates in 20+ years drove another decline in mortgage applications during the week ended September 22. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 1.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier and fell by 2.0 percent on an unadjusted basis. The Refinance Index decreased 1.0 percent from the previous week and was 21 percent lower than the same week in 2022. The refinance share of mortgage activity grew to 31.9 percent of total applications from 31.6 percent the previous week. [refiappschart] The Purchase Index was 2.0 percent lower than the prior week on both a seasonally adjusted and unadjusted basis and was down 27 percent compared to the same week one year