Potential buyers arrive during an open house in Rancho Cucamonga, California, USA on Saturday, May 9, 2026.
Kyle Grillot | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Mortgage rates continued to rise last week, dampening demand for loans from both current homeowners and potential homebuyers. They also pushed consumers toward riskier loans with lower interest rates.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index, overall mortgage application volume fell 2.3% compared to the previous week.
The weekly average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances of $832,750 or less increased last week from 6.46% to 6.56%, with points for loans with a 20% down payment decreasing from 0.63 to 0.60, including the origination fee. This is the highest rate in seven weeks.
“Ongoing inflation concerns due to higher fuel costs combined with increasing worries about global government debt pushed up Treasury yields in the U.S. and abroad last week,” Joel Kan, an MBA economist, said in a news release.
The share of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) in total applications rose to nearly 10%, the highest since October 2025. ARMs are considered riskier because their interest rates reset after a set period of time. The average interest rate on a five-year ARM was 5.76% last week.
Mortgage applications to purchase a home fell 4% this week and were just 8% higher than the same week a year ago. At this time last year, mortgage rates were closer to 7%.
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Applications to refinance a home loan fell 0.1% from the previous week and were 35% higher than the same week a year ago.
“Total applications fell to the lowest level in five weeks as purchase borrowers pulled back on conventional and government loan types,” Kan added.
Mortgage rates continued to rise this week, reaching their highest level since last July, according to a separate survey from Mortgage News Daily.
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