Mortgage Applications Declined by 2.0% in Last Full Week of August

Washington, DC, September 2, 2020-Mortgage applications decreased 2.0% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending August 28, 2020. 

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.0% on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 3% from the previous week and was 40% higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 0.2% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 3 percent compared with the previous week and was 28% higher than the same week one year ago. 

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 62.5% of total applications from 62.6% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 2.6% of total applications. 

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 10.2% from 10.5% the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 11.4% from 11.8% the week prior. The USDA share of total applications remained unchanged from 0.6% the week prior.