Mortgage applications decreased 5.3% from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey for the week ending Oct. 16, 2026.
On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 5% compared to last week’s data.
The refinance index, which decreased 2% from the previous week, was 59% lower than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted purchase index decreased 7% from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 7% compared with the previous week and was 18% lower than the same week one year ago.
“Mortgage rates decreased for the first time in over two months, with the 30-year fixed rate dropping to 7.41%. However, lower rates were not enough to boost application activity, as both purchase and refinance applications continued to decline,” said Joel Kan, CMB, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. “Purchase applications fell 18% behind last year’s pace, as higher rates are pricing buyers out of the market. The ARM share held steady at 10.5%, as ARM rates remained almost a full percentage point lower than the 30-year fixed rate, giving qualified borrowers a lower rate option to purchase a home.”
Added Kan, “It is very clear that the higher mortgage rate environment has cooled the housing market this fall.”
The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 39% of total applications from 37.7% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity remained unchanged at 10.5% of total applications.
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) share of total applications decreased to 16.3% from 16.4% the week prior. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) share of total applications decreased to 11.5% from 11.9% the week prior. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) share of total applications decreased to 0.5% from 0.6% the week prior.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($832,750 or less) decreased to 7.41% from 7.5% and rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $832,750) decreased to 7.33% from 7.49%.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 7.13% from 7.19%, while rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 6.73% from 6.87%. The average contract interest rate for 5/1 ARMs decreased to 6.46% from 6.54%.
Xactus Mortgage Intent Index
Xactus’s Mortgage Intent Index — which analyzes aggregated, anonymized credit-pull activity across the Xactus Intelligent Verification Platform — fell to a reading of 96.9.
“The Xactus Mortgage Intent Index continued to deteriorate, falling 5.65% week over week to 96.9, its lowest level in recent weeks, and approximately 25% below the same week last year,” said Thomas Lloyd, chief strategy officer at Xactus.
Lloyd added that the Oct. 12 federal holiday contributed to the index’s decline, but that the year-over-year drop in the index has persisted, following declines of approximately 20% in each of the prior two weeks.
He continued, “Mortgage rates eased slightly over the past week, but the continued deterioration in mortgage intent suggests that modest rate relief has yet to translate into a meaningful improvement in borrower activity. With the index now down roughly one-quarter from year-ago levels, the data point to persistent headwinds for mortgage demand heading into the final months of the year.”
