Mortgage applications continued an upward trajectory for the second straight week as mortgage rates continued to fall in turn. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey showed a 14.1 percent uptick in applications for the week ending Jan. 16.
The Market Composite Index, which the survey relies on to measure mortgage loan application volume, showed applications to be up 17 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis, compared with the previous week, according to an MBA press release.
MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan correlated the increase in conventional loan applications to the continued decline in mortgage rates over the past two weeks.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances dropped from 6.25 percent to 6.18 percent the week ending Jan. 9 and again to 6.16 percent the following week.
He also credited declining rates with “driving another big week for refinance applications,” particularly for borrowers with loans insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), leading to the strongest level of refinance activity since September 2025.
“These lower rates prompted greater refinance activity from conventional and VA refinance borrowers, with increases of 29 percent and 26 percent, respectively,” Kan said. “Refinance applications accounted for more than 60 percent of applications, and the average loan size also moved higher.”
The Refinance Index increased 20 percent from the previous week and was 183 percent higher than the same week one year prior. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 5 percent from one week earlier while the unadjusted Purchase Index rose 12 percent compared with the previous week and was 18 percent higher than the same week the year before.
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 61.9 percent of total applications from 60.2 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.1 percent of total applications.
For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, the average contract interest rate decreased to 5.55 percent from 5.6 percent.
For jumbo loan balances (greater than $832,750), the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate contract dropped to 6.39 percent from 6.42 percent.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration decreased to 6.04 percent from 6.08 percent and the average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs remained unchanged at 5.42 percent.