March 16th 2023

Demand for mortgages rose 6.5% in the latest week as rates dropped slightly.

Demand rose for both purchases and refinancing. That pushed the market composite index—a measure of mortgage application volume—up, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday.

The market index rose by 6.5% to 214.5 for the week ending March 10 from a week earlier. A year ago, the index stood at 496.5.

Key details: The refinance index rose 4.8%, but was down 74% compared to a year ago.

The purchase index—which measures mortgage applications for the purchase of a home—rose by 7.3% from last week.

The average contract rate for a 30-year mortgage for homes sold for $726,200 or less was 6.71% for the week ending March 10.

That’s down from 6.79% the week before, the MBA said.

For homes sold for above $726,200, the average rate for the 30-year was 6.39%, down from 6.49% the previous week.

The 15-year fell to 6.14%, from last week’s 6.25%.

The rate for adjustable-rate mortgages decreased to 5.69% from last week’s 5.75%.

The big picture: Bank closures and broad uncertainty over the future of the U.S. economy is pushing investors into Treasury bonds, which in turn is pushing mortgage rates down.