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Julia Kagan is a financial/consumer journalist and former senior editor, personal finance, of Investopedia.
Updated September 20, 2024 Reviewed by Reviewed by Doretha ClemonDoretha Clemons, Ph.D., MBA, PMP, has been a corporate IT executive and professor for 34 years. She is an adjunct professor at Connecticut State Colleges & Universities, Maryville University, and Indiana Wesleyan University. She is a Real Estate Investor and principal at Bruised Reed Housing Real Estate Trust, and a State of Connecticut Home Improvement License holder.
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The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey is conducted each week by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) to aggregate and analyze U.S. mortgage application activity. The survey shows whether new mortgage applications increased or decreased across 15 segments of the primary residential housing sector. According to the MBA, the survey covers 75% of mortgage applications for the residential housing market in the U.S.
The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey is used as a metric for the demand for new mortgage loans and refinancing, which can indicate a strong or weak economy, a change in mortgage interest rates, and future activity from homebuilders.
Each week, the MBA draws on the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey to publish reports and commentary on the state of real estate financing, including new home purchases, refinancing, and mortgages. Each week’s reports include indices tracking changes in fixed-rate, adjustable, conventional, and governmental loans and refinances.
It is important to note that the Weekly Mortgage Survey primarily tracks data on the mortgage applications submitted each week, as opposed to mortgage loan applications that close.
Since the launch of the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey in 1990, its indices have served as leading indicators in the housing and mortgage finance industries. While most of the stakeholders with an interest in the trends charted by the Weekly Application Survey may be focused on recent trends and near-term forecasting, the available data also provide historical perspectives on macro-trends in these industries.
While the Weekly Applications Survey has only been in operation since 1990, the Mortgage Bankers Association has existed since 1914. Initially known as the Farm Mortgage Bankers Association of America, the organization convened to provide loans for farmland. In 1926, the organization changed its name to Mortgage Bankers Association of America.
While anyone working in the real estate finance industry is eligible to join, MBA membership is largely composed of independent mortgage banks. The remainder of the membership comprises commercial and community banks, credit unions, mortgage servicers, insurance and title companies. The Weekly Applications Survey aggregates member-reported data for its weekly reports.
Each Wednesday, the MBA publishes the results of the previous week’s survey with comparative data analysis to chart market trends. Real estate market stakeholders pay particular attention to two of these indices: the MBA Refinance Index and the MBA Purchase Index.
The MBA Refinance Index tracks the number of refinance applications submitted, reporting the week’s total alongside the percentage change from the prior week and the four-week moving average of the index.
This tool can be useful in forecasting mortgage activity. Some analysts look to refinancing data to predict other forms of consumer spending, while mortgage investors look to this index for trends that will impact them, especially as a wave of refinancing can decrease payments over time.
Similarly, the MBA Purchase Index counts the number of new home loan applications submitted each week. These figures are useful for builders and developers when forecasting new housing construction. Mortgage investors can also look to this index for market trend indicators, such as mortgage prepayment.
According to the MBA Weekly Application Survey for the week ending September 13, 2024, mortgage loan applications increased by more than 14% from one week earlier, while the refinance index increased 24% from the previous week and was 127% higher than the same period one year earlier.
The report highlights the expectations that the Fed would cut interest rates later in the month, pushing down mortgage rates and ending the central bank's rate hike cycle since 2022. The Fed did, in fact, cut rates during its policy meeting on September 18, 2024. The increase in mortgage applications and refinancing activity shows the importance of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy on the U.S. housing sector.
Mortgage lending discrimination is illegal. If you think you’ve been discriminated against based on race, religion, sex, marital status, use of public assistance, national origin, disability, or age, there are steps you can take. One such step is to file a report, either to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey is conducted weekly, totaling the new mortgage applications in the U.S. The survey shows the increase or decrease in new mortgage application activity across 15 segments of the primary residential housing sector.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, for the week ending September 13, 2024, mortgage loan applications increased by more than 14% from the prior week, while refinancing activity jumped by 24% from the previous week and 127% versus a year earlier.
Mortgage activity likely increased as it was widely expected the Fed would cut interest rates later in the month, which usually pushes down mortgage rates, making homes more affordable.
Typically, mortgage loans are fixed-rate loans with a set monthly payment, in which a portion pays the monthly interest and principal. However, variable-rate mortgage loans—often called adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)—have a period in which the rate might be fixed and another period in which the rate adjusts with market interest rates.
The Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) provides a pulse of the U.S. mortgage activity. The survey gathers data reflecting new mortgage applications and refinancing activity across 15 segments of the primary residential housing sector. The survey comprises 75% of mortgage applications for the U.S. residential housing market.
