Borrowers rush to get the last of the low mortgage rates, with refinances jumping 18%

• Mortgage applications to refinance a home loan jumped 18% week to week, seasonally adjusted but still 50% lower than a year ago.
• The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 3.78% from 3.72%
• Mortgage applications to purchase a home increased 4% for the week, but were 7% lower than the same week one year ago.

Mortgage rates continued to surge higher last week, and that brought borrowers out of the woodwork, looking to refinance. While that might seem counterintuitive, given the higher rates, there are still a significant number of borrowers who could benefit from a refinance, and they may have been worried that this was their last chance.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 3.78% from 3.72%, with points decreasing to 0.41 from 0.43 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That was the highest rate since March 2020. One year ago, the rate was 86 basis points lower.

With rates now clearly on the upward trajectory, mortgage applications to refinance a home loan jumped 18% week to week, seasonally adjusted. Volume was still 50% lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 57.3% of total applications from 55.8% the previous week.