A “For Sale” placard displayed outside a residence in Crockett, California, USA, captured on Wednesday, November 12, 2025.
Photo by David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
For the third consecutive week, mortgage rates saw a decline, stimulating interest from both existing homeowners and prospective buyers. While the spring housing market initially seemed disappointing, it now shows signs of renewed vitality.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index, the overall volume of mortgage applications increased by 7.9% last week relative to the week prior.
The average contractual interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, specifically those with conforming loan balances of $832,750 or less, fell from 6.42% to 6.35%. Points also decreased from 0.62 to 0.61, encompassing the origination fee for loans requiring a 20% down payment.
“Last week, mortgage rates fell as financial markets reacted favorably to developments like the Middle East ceasefire and a downward trend in oil prices,” stated Mike Fratantoni, MBA senior vice president and chief economist, in an official announcement.
Requests for home purchase mortgages climbed 10% during the week, standing 14% higher than the equivalent week a year prior. This surge occurred after buyer interest had momentarily dipped below year-ago benchmarks. The primary driver of this rise was conventional purchase loans, which saw an 11% weekly increase.
Fratantoni noted, “Even with ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, a robust job market continues to bolster housing demand, and prospective homebuyers are finding a buyer’s market across much of the nation due to increased inventory compared to last year.”
Demand for refinancing, highly responsive to weekly rate fluctuations, saw a 6% increase for the week, surpassing figures from the same week a year ago by 52%. At this point last year, the 30-year fixed rate was 55 basis points higher.
Early this week, mortgage rates experienced a minor uptick, as indicated by a distinct survey from Mortgage News Daily. However, they remain unstable amidst ambiguous signals concerning geopolitical tensions.
“Stronger employment data on Tuesday morning exerted some upward pressure on rates, yet the market’s attention was more keenly fixed on the ambiguous state of US/Iran peace negotiations,” commented Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily.