WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 23, 2019) — Mortgage applications decreased 11.9 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending October 18, 2019.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 11.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 12 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 17 percent from the previous week and was 126 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 4 percent compared with the previous week and was 6 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

“Interest rates continue to be volatile, with Brexit votes and ongoing trade negotiations swinging rates higher or lower on any given day. Last week, mortgage rates jumped 10 basis points and were above 4 percent for the first time since September,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist. “The increase in mortgage rates caused refinance applications to drop 17 percent, and by more than 20 percent for conventional loans. Borrowers with larger loans are the most sensitive to rate changes, and with rates climbing higher last week, the average size of a refinance loan application fell to its lowest level this year.”

Added Fratantoni, “Although purchase applications declined, application volume is still running about 6 percent ahead of this time last year. Low mortgage rates continue to fuel buyer interest, but supply and affordability challenges persist.”

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 58.5 percent of total applications from 62.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity decreased to 4.8 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications increased to 12.1 percent from 11.3 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 13.5 percent from 12.9 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications increased to 0.5 percent from 0.4 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($484,350 or less) increased to 4.02 percent from 3.92 percent, with points increasing to 0.38 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $484,350) increased to 3.96 percent from 3.90 percent, with points increasing to 0.30 from 0.23
(including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 3.79 percent from 3.77 percent, with points increasing to 0.26 from 0.19 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 3.39 percent from 3.32 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.31 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 3.29 percent from 3.37 percent, with points increasing to 0.35 from 0.23 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

If you would like to purchase a subscription of MBA’s Weekly Applications Survey, please visitwww.mba.org/WeeklyApps, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or click here.

The survey covers over 75 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, and has been conducted weekly since 1990. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. Base period and value for all indexes is March 16, 1990=100.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 17, 2019) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for September 2019 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 34.2 percent compared to a year ago. Compared to August 2019, applications decreased by 8 percent. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns. MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 725,000 units in September 2019, based on data from the BAS. The new home sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors. “Applications for new home purchases fell in September but remained 34.2 percent higher than a year ago, with our estimate for new home sales following a similar pattern. Last month’s slowdown was likely caused by ongoing economic and interest rate uncertainty, as well as the fact that homebuilders continue to grapple with high building costs and labor shortages,” said Joel Kan, Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Purchase applications this year for new and existing homes for sale have consistently outpaced year ago levels. This trend should continue in the final months of the year – especially considering how much higher rates were at the end of 2018.” The seasonally adjusted estimate for September is a decrease of 7.6 percent from the August pace of 785,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that there were 56,000 new home sales in September 2019, a decrease of 8.2 percent from 61,000 new home sales in August. By product type, conventional loans composed 69.2 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.4 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.9 percent and VA loans composed 11.6 percent. The average loan size of new homes decreased from $332,497 in August to $330,807 in September. MBA’s Builder Application Survey tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country. Utilizing this data, as well as data from other sources, MBA is able to provide an early estimate of new home sales volumes at the national, state, and metro level. This data also provides information regarding the types of loans used by new home buyers. Official new home sales estimates are conducted by the Census Bureau on a monthly basis. In that data, new home sales are recorded at contract signing, which is typically coincident with the mortgage application. For additional information on MBA’s Builder Applications Survey, please click here.

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MISMO^®, the mortgage industry's standards organization, today announced that Jonathan Kearns has joined MISMO as Vice President of Technology. Under MISMO’s management by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), Kearns will also serve as MBA Associate Vice President, Product Development.

The hiring of Kearns comes on the heels of MBA’s $2 million investment in MISMO – announced in March – to enable the organization to expand its resources in support of key initiatives. Kearns will help take the lead on MISMO’s top priorities of focus, including: a uniform dataset for private label mortgage-backed securities; a standardized closing instructions template; harmonized remote online notary (RON) standards; common standards to encourage business-to-consumer communications on smartphones and tablets; and appraisal and rent roll standards for commercial and multifamily lenders.

“Jonathan is a thought leader in the mortgage technology space, with substantial experience developing technology and product strategy,” said Mike Fratantoni, President of MISMO and MBA's Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research and Industry Technology. “Jonathan is going to energize MISMO’s ability to develop standards and new technology initiatives that will benefit small and large companies and the entire industry.”

Kearns, who previously served on MISMO’s Residential Standards Governance Committee, comes to the organization most recently from DocMagic, Inc., which acquired eSignSystems, where he had been since 1999. He held various leadership titles through mergers and acquisitions over the past two decades, and was most recently Senior Vice President of Technology.

“We are excited to have someone with Jonathan’s experience and acumen join MISMO,” said Rick Hill, Executive Vice President of MISMO and MBA Vice President of Technology. “His background with digital technologies and product development will enable MISMO to better serve the entire mortgage industry.”

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