MBA Purchase Index

The MBA Purchase Index tracks weekly applications for mortgages to buy homes in the United States. It is also called US mortgage applications. It comes from the Mortgage Bankers Association Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, running since 1990. The index covers purchase applications only, both conventional and government-backed loans, not refinances.

The survey covers closed-end home loans through retail and direct channels. Respondents include mortgage bankers, commercial banks, thrifts, and credit unions. Older releases put coverage at over 75% of US retail applications. The index counts applications received, not funded loans or homes sold, so a rise can mean more shopping or a refinance wave.

Each release covers one reference week ending Friday. It appears the next Wednesday at 7:00 AM ET. Weeks with a federal holiday carry an explicit holiday adjustment inside that same release. MBA states no revision schedule, and each week's figures stand as released.

Each release also reports the Market Composite Index and the Refinance Index. Changes come week over week on adjusted and unadjusted bases, plus year over year unadjusted. It also gives refinance, ARM, and government loan shares, plus average rates and points for five loan types. An economist quote reads direction and level against history.

Year-end weeks can bring catch-up readings after holidays, not clean weekly comparisons. A rising index means stronger buyer demand, while a falling one signals affordability strain. MBA links that strain to higher mortgage rates and scarce homes for sale. There is no boom or bust threshold, so 100 marks only the base week.

Purchase applications move with buying demand, refinancing, mortgage rates, and available supply.

• Purchase Index: applications to buy a home with conventional or government-backed loans.
• Refinance Index: applications to refinance existing loans, moving against mortgage rates and dominating volume when rates fall.
• Market Composite Index: total mortgage application volume across purchase and refinance.
• Loan shares: refinance, ARM (adjustable-rate mortgages), and FHA/VA/USDA (federal programs) portions showing which borrowers drive the week.
• Rate panel: average contract rates and points for five loan types, giving the rate context behind index moves.

The week ending October 27, 2023, released November 1, 2023, saw adjusted purchases fall 1% on the week. The unadjusted index fell 2% on the week and 22% from a year earlier. The Composite fell 2.1% while refinances fell 4% on the week and 12% on the year.

MBA called purchases the lowest since 1995 and refinances the lowest since January 2023. The 30-year rate sat at 7.86%, down from 7.90%, near 23-year highs and above 7% since early August 2023. Government purchases fell 3%, more than conventional loans, while ARM loans rose about 10% to 10.7% of applications.

Refinance share eased to 31.2% from 31.4%. The lesson is record-weak demand with buyers shifting away from fixed rates.

1. Collect: Each week lenders report counts of retail and direct home-loan applications, split by purpose and product.
2. Adjust: MBA turns raw volume into a seasonally adjusted series and reports headline changes on that basis. It adds an explicit fix for holiday-short weeks and also reports unadjusted changes. MBA publishes no weights or adjustment factors, and full history sits behind a paid subscription.
3. Index to base: Index equals 100 times adjusted volume divided by volume in the week ending March 16, 1990. For example, 14,820 adjusted applications against a 10,000 base equals 148.2. And 150 means 1.5x base-week volume.
4. Changes: Week change divides the index move by the prior index on an adjusted basis. Year change uses the unadjusted index instead. For example, 148.2 versus 154.9 falls 4.3% on the week. And 148.2 versus 190.0 last year falls about 22%.