In today's MBA weekly mortgage applications survey, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate only rose from 6.73% to 6.81%. The average daily rates are now back to over 7%. No matter how you look at it, interest rates have risen quickly and the impact is completely surprising when it comes to refinancing applications.

For context, here's how last year fits into the bigger picture:

Refinance applications wax and wane with interest rates. The current environment is particularly constrained by the fact that so many people refinanced at such low interest rates in 2020-2022. Currently, the only group of borrowers with an interest-based refinance incentive are those who purchased or refinanced in late 2023, when interest rates were around 8%.

Purchase applications are much more balanced, but also do not appeal to the current price/affordability environment.

Other highlights from this week’s survey:

• Refinances accounted for 39.9% of all applications, compared to 43.1% last week
• The average loan size fell below $300,000
• FHA loans accounted for 15.5% of the total, up from 16.4% last week
• VA loans accounted for 12.5% ​​of the total, up from 14.6% last week
• Conventional interest rates rose from 6.73 to 6.81 compared to Jumbo interest rates of 6.98 (from 6.77… a much larger jump).
• ARM rates fell from 6.20 to 6.05, but upfront costs rose from 0.59 to 0.84.