Friday, May 16, 2025
Homebuyers were out in force again last week as mortgage rates found some stability, with demand for purchase loans climbing for the second week in a row, according to a weekly survey of lenders by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The MBA’s Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey showed purchase loan applications were up by a seasonally adjusted 2 percent last week when compared to the week before, and up 18 percent from a year ago.
“Last week saw steadier mortgage rates, as the [Federal Reserve] meeting played as predicted, and market movements led to a small two-basis point increase in the 30-year conforming rate to 6.86 percent,” MBA Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said in a statement.
While refi applications were essentially unchanged from the week before, falling by 0.4 percent, requests to refinance were up 44 percent from a year ago.
Nationwide, there were 31 percent more homes for sale in April than there were a year ago, according to Realtor.com data. The 959,251 active for-sale listings that homebuyers had to choose from last month surpassed April 2020 levels, marking a new post-pandemic high.