The sale sign will be in front of your home in Miami, Florida on May 12, 2025.
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Mortgage demand from home buyers has risen for the second consecutive week, suggesting potential buyers are more appealing to an increase in the supply of homes for sale than being discouraged by recent economic uncertainty and concerns about tariffs.
The total mortgage application volume has increased by 1.1% compared to last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Seasonally Adjusted Index.
The average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with conforming loan balances rose from $806,500 or less, from 6.84% to 6.86%, remaining varied at 0.68 including the origin fee for the 20% down payment loan. That rating was 22 basis points higher in the same week a year ago.
Mortgage applications to buy mortgages rose 2% per week, 18% higher than the previous year. It was the second linear weekly profit after demand fell sharply for most of April. The previous week it rose 11%.
“The news this week was the growth of the purchasing application,” said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist at the MBA. “Despite the economic uncertainty, the increase in housing inventory means that unlike the last two years, there are additional properties to buy, and this supply supports more transactions.”
He also noted that he had made significant profits from government purchase applications, increasing almost 5% and 40% in a week compared to a year ago. Government loans tend to be preferred by low-income or first-time home buyers as they offer low down payment options.
According to Redfin, the total nationally active list is currently about 14% higher than this point last year. The new list is up 5.5%.
Refinance applications fell 0.4% for the week, but 44% higher than the same week a year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activities fell from 37.1% the previous week to 36.4% of total applications.
