“The 30-year fixed-rate decreased for the eighth straight week to 6.13%, while the FHA rate decreased to 5.99%, breaking the psychologically important 6% level,” Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist of MBA.
Kan added that the recent drop in rates has led to gains in both conventional and government-backed refinance applications.
“The refinance share of applications is now at 55.7%, and while the level of refinance activity is still modest compared to prior refi waves, they now account for the majority of applications, given the seasonal slowdown in purchase activity,” he said in the report.
Purchase applications saw a more modest rise of 1%, and the seasonally unadjusted purchase index increased 0.4% week-over-week and was 2% higher than the same week in 2023.
“Average loan sizes were higher both for purchase and refinance applications, which pushed the overall average loan size to its highest in the survey’s history at $413,100,” Kan noted.