Mortgage applications increased 0.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending November 21, 2025.

“Mortgage rates crept higher last week, with the 30-year fixed rate up to 6.4 percent, its highest level since early October. Despite these slightly higher rates, purchase applications increased over the week and remained at a stronger pace than a year ago, with increases across conventional and government purchase applications. The government purchase index, which includes FHA, VA, and USDA applications, increased 9 percent and had the strongest week since 2023,” said Joel Kan, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Despite slowing home-price growth and lower mortgage rates, affordability remains a challenge in many markets and government loan programs remain appealing to qualified buyers looking to purchase a home. The average purchase loan size decreased to its lowest level in two months.”

Added Kan, “Rates have increased by around 10 basis points over the past four weeks and given that many borrowers have been looking to capitalize on rate drops, refinance applications last week declined almost 6 percent to the slowest weekly pace since September.”

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 2 percent compared with the previous week. The Refinance Index decreased 6 percent from the previous week and was 117 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 8 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 2 percent compared with the previous week and was 20 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 53.4 percent of total applications from 55.4 percent the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity increased to 7.9 percent of total applications.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 18.8 percent from 19.9 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications increased to 15.4 percent from 15.2 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications increased to 0.4 percent from 0.3 percent the week prior.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($806,500 or less) increased to 6.40 percent from 6.37 percent, with points decreasing to 0.60 from 0.62 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $806,500) increased to 6.49 percent from 6.39 percent, with points increasing to 0.55 from 0.42 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate increased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA increased to 6.15 percent from 6.14 percent, with points decreasing to 0.79 from 0.84 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.80 percent from 5.83 percent, with points increasing to 0.72 from 0.69 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.