MBA: mortgage applications fall 6% as 30-year rate hits 7.30%, highest since late 2023
U.S. mortgage applications fell 6% as the average 30-year conforming rate rose to 7.30%, the highest since November 2023.
U.S. mortgage applications fell 6% in the week ended Sept. 25 as the average 30-year conforming fixed rate climbed to 7.30%, the highest since November 2023, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey reported Sept. 30.
The contract rate on 30-year fixed mortgages with conforming balances of $832,750 or less rose to 7.30% from 7.12% the prior week, with points at 0.75 including the origination fee for loans with a 20% down payment, CNBC reported from the MBA release. It was the sixth consecutive weekly increase. Jumbo 30-year rates rose to 7.27% from 7.15%. Fifteen-year fixed rates increased to 6.56% from 6.43%, and 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 6.47% from 6.10%. FHA-backed 30-year rates moved to 6.97% from 6.78%.
Purchase applications declined 4% on a seasonally adjusted basis (5% unadjusted week over week and 14% below the same week a year earlier). Refinance applications dropped 9% week over week and were 56% lower than a year ago. The refinance share of total applications slipped to 38.3% from 39.3%. Government refinances fell 13%, with FHA and VA activity both posting double-digit weekly declines, MBA Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said in comments carried by HousingWire and CNBC.
“Mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in almost three years, pushing borrowers to the sidelines,” Kan said, according to HousingWire. He added that purchase and refinance applications both slowed to their weakest weekly pace since 2025, and that ARM loans—with rates about 80 basis points below fixed-rate loans—accounted for 10.3% of applications, the highest share since October 2025.
Product mix otherwise shifted only modestly: FHA’s share held at 16.7%, VA’s share edged to 11.9% from 12.0%, and USDA’s share fell to 0.5% from 0.6%.
Rates kept rising into the following week. Mortgage News Daily printed an average 30-year fixed near 7.58% on Tuesday, Sept. 29—also the highest since November 2023—as Treasury yields recalibrated to Fed policy, growth, and inflation expectations, CNBC reported, quoting MND’s Matthew Graham. That MND figure is a separate, higher-frequency survey from the MBA weekly average for the prior week ended Sept. 25 (30-year conforming 7.30%); the two series should not be conflated.
Higher borrowing costs are colliding with still-elevated home prices. CNBC noted that national home prices were up 1.9% year over year in July on the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller index, accelerating from a 1.6% annual gain in June. Affordability pressure helps explain both the pullback in purchase demand and the rise in ARM share as some borrowers seek lower initial coupons.
Separately, Xactus’s Mortgage Intent Index—which tracks anonymized credit-pull activity—fell 7.6% week over week to 108.9, its lowest non-holiday reading of the year and about 18.6% below the same week last year, HousingWire reported, underscoring weak borrower intent heading into the fourth quarter.
For housing and mortgage-market readers, the MBA print reinforces a rate-driven demand shock rather than a sudden supply collapse: applications are lagging as coupons approach multi-year highs, while ARM mix is rising at the margin.
This is a news summary of industry survey data. It is not personalized mortgage or investment advice.
