Data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 12, 2025, showed an approximate 29.7% rise in mortgage applications compared to the previous week.
Note: The results from last week included a Labor Day holiday adjustment.
Seasonally adjusted, the Market Composite Index, which gauges the volume of home loan applications, rose 29.7% from the previous week. When compared to the previous week, the Index rose 43% on an unadjusted basis.
The Refinance Index rose 70% from the same week last year and 58% from the week before. Compared to a week ago, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index rose 3%. It was 20% higher than the same week last year and 12% higher than the prior week’s unadjusted Purchase Index.
“Indicative of the weakening job market, and in anticipation of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve, mortgage rates last week dropped to their lowest level since last October, with the 30-year fixed rate declining to 6.39%. Homeowners responded swiftly, with refinance application volume jumping almost 60% compared to the prior week,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and Chief Economist. “Homeowners with larger loans jumped first, as the average loan size on refinances reached its highest level in the 35-year history of our survey. Almost 60% of applications were for refinances, but there was also a pickup in purchase applications.”
Mortgage Purchase Applications Tick Up
The percentage of total mortgage applications that were refinances rose from 48.8% the week before to 59.8% this week. The percentage of applications for adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) rose to 12.9% of all applications.
FHA’s percentage of all applicants dropped from 18.5% the week before to 16.3%. The VA accounted for 15.8% of all applications, up from 15.3% the week before. USDA’s portion of all applications dropped from 0.6% the week before to 0.5%.
“Even as 30-year fixed rates reached their lowest level in almost a year, more borrowers, and particularly more refinance borrowers, opted for adjustable-rate loans, with the ARM share reaching its highest level since 2008,” Frantoni said. “Notably, ARMs typically have initial fixed terms of five, seven, or ten years, so those loans do not pose the risk of early payment shock that pre-2008 ARMs did. Borrowers who do opt for an ARM are seeing rates about 75 basis points lower than for 30-year fixed rate loans.”
Additional Key Findings — National
With points dropping to 0.54 from 0.56 (including the origination fee) for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan sums ($806,500 or less) dropped from 6.49% to 6.39%. Compared to the previous week, the effective rate dropped.
With points dropping to 0.35 from 0.48 (including the origination charge) for 80 percent LTV loans, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan sums (more than $806,500) rose from 6.44% to 6.48%. Compared to last week, the effective rate went up.
With points (including the origination charge) staying constant at 0.68 for 80% LTV loans, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA dropped from 6.27% to 6.14%. Compared to the previous week, the effective rate dropped.
With points rising to 0.58 from 0.55 (including the origination charge) for 80 percent LTV loans, the average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped from 5.70% to 5.63%. Compared to the previous week, the effective rate dropped.
For 5/1 ARMs, the average contract interest rate dropped from 5.77% to 5.65%, and for 80% LTV loans, the points dropped from 0.63 to 0.41. Compared to the previous week, the effective rate dropped.
Additionally, after pressure from the Trump administration and for the first time since December 2024, the Federal Reserve has lowered its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points at the conclusion of its Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
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