Mortgage Applications Up in November, With Refis Making Up More Than Half of the Share

Mortgage applications increased 1.8% for the week ending Nov. 19, 2021, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 63.1% of total applications from 62.9% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 3.4% of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 8.6% from 8.9% the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 10.3% from 10.8% the previous week. The USDA share of total applications decreased to 0.4% from 0.5% the previous week.

Key findings:

- Market Composite Index increased 1.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week
- Unadjusted, the index increased 0.1% compared with the previous week.
- Refinance Index increased 0.4%from the previous week—34% lower YoY
- Seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5% from the previous week
- Unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.4% from the previous week

The takeaway:

“The financial markets continue to discern the Federal Reserve’s policy path in the coming months in light of the current high growth, high inflation environment. Despite a fair amount of rate volatility last week, mortgage rates were higher, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing 4 basis points to 3.24%,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting, in a statement. “Despite the increase in rates, refinance applications rose slightly, driven by a 2% gain in conventional refinances. Borrowers continue to lock in mortgages in anticipation of higher rates in the future. Refinance applications were still more than 30% below a year ago, when the 30-year fixed rate was 32 basis points lower.”

Added Kan, “Purchase activity increased for the third straight week, as housing demand remains robust, even as the housing market approaches the typically slower holiday season. Both conventional and government loan applications increased, and the average loan size for a purchase loan was at $407,200, continuing its ongoing 2021 run of being mostly above $400,000.”