Rising interest rates didn’t deter mortgage and refinancing interest last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage applications increased 7.4 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending March 3, 2023.
On an unadjusted basis, the The Market Composite Index increased 9 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index also increased 9 percent from the previous week, but was 76 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 7 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 9 percent compared with the previous week and was 42 percent lower than the same week one year ago.
“Mortgage rates continued to increase last week. The 30-year fixed rate rose to 6.79 percent—the highest level since November 2022 and 270 basis points higher than a year ago,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Even with higher rates, there was an uptick in applications last week, but this was in comparison to two weeks of declines to very low levels, including a holiday week. Comparing the application indices from a year ago, purchase applications were still down 42 percent, and refinance activity was down 76 percent. Many borrowers are waiting on the sidelines for rates to come back down.”