2024.04.1713:04:00UTC+00U.S. Mortgage Applications Surged 3.3% Last Week

A report released by the Mortgage Bankers Association on Wednesday showed a significant increase in U.S. mortgage applications in the week ended April 12th.

The MBA said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, surged 3.3 percent from one week earlier after inching up by 0.1 percent in the previous week.

The sharp increase came as the Purchase Index spiked by 5 percent from a week earlier, while the Refinance Index rose by 0.5 percent.

"Mortgage rates increased across the board, with the 30-year fixed rate at 7.13 percent - reaching its highest level since December 2023," said Joel Kan, MBA's Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. "Despite these higher rates, application activity picked up, possibly as some borrowers decided to act in case rates continue to rise."

"Purchase applications drove most of the increase, but remain at low levels of around 10 percent behind last year's pace," he added. "Refinance applications increased very slightly, driven by a 3 percent gain in conventional applications."

The report also said the refinance share of mortgage activity dipped to 32.1 percent, while the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity increased to 7.3 percent of total applications.

While the FHA share of total applications crept up to 12.3 percent, the VA share of total applications decreased to 12.4 percent.