Mortgage Applications Fall Another 2.7% as the 30-Year Rate Reaches 7.50%, the Highest Since November 2023, MBA Says
Mortgage applications in the United States fell 2.7 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ending October 9, 2026, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported from Washington on October 14. The unadjusted Market Composite Index was down 2 percent. The Purchase Index fell 4 percent from the week before and was 16 percent lower than a year earlier, while the Refinance Index slipped 0.4 percent on the week and was 56 percent below its year-earlier level.
Higher rates are the backdrop. The average contract rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances rose to 7.50 percent, from 7.49 percent the week before - its highest level since November 2023 and more than a full percentage point above a year ago. Joel Kan, MBA's vice president and deputy chief economist, said applications eased as rates moved higher, and that borrowers are leaning more on adjustable-rate loans to lower monthly payments: the ARM share climbed to 10.5 percent of applications, its highest since October 2025. The week's refinance decline was driven mainly by a 5 percent drop in FHA refinance applications, he said.
Refinances accounted for 37.7 percent of all applications, up from 37.0 percent the week before. The FHA share held at 16.4 percent, the VA share rose to 11.9 percent and the USDA share to 0.6 percent. According to HousingWire, MBA chief economist Mike Fratantoni told the association's annual conference that with inflation still high and longer-term rates under pressure, he expects rates to stay around 7.3 percent for the rest of this year and above 7 percent through 2027.
(Source: MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, released October 14)
Source: MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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