You can see a home for sale in Austin, Texas on April 24, 2025.
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Mortgage fees didn’t move much last week, but home buyers continued to be pulled back amid concerns about the wider economy.
Mortgage applications to buy mortgages fell 4% compared to last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index. Despite the fact that interest rates were pretty high last year, the volume was only 3% higher than the same week a year ago.
The average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with conforming loan balances fell from 6.90% to 6.89%, below $806,500, with points increasing from 0.67 to 0.67, including the origin fee for a 20% down payment loan. That rate is 40 basis points lower than the same week a year ago.
“We’re committed to providing a great opportunity to help you,” said Joel Kang, vice president and vice-chief economist at MBA. “The FHA purchasing application has not only been slightly declining as home stocks are slowly increasing in many markets and first-time home buyers are still in the mix.”
Mortgage refinance applications fell 4% in a week, 42% higher than the same week a year ago.
“Refinance activities were again near 7%, with borrowers significantly reducing interest rate declines. Given the refinance pullback, the average refinance loan size has dropped to its lowest level in three months,” Kan added.
Mortgage fees remained in Limbo to begin this week, but with a massive amount of economic data released and ending with a very important monthly employment report on Friday, it could ultimately break through either direction from Wednesday.
