Mortgage application volumes rose on a weekly basis despite volatility in financial markets sparked by the ongoing U.S. war with Iran, according to Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) data published Wednesday.
The MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, gained 3.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending March 6, while notching a 4.1% increase on an unadjusted basis.
Building upon momentum begun in the last week of February, purchase application activity rose 7.8% in the first week of March, with the unadjusted purchase component index landing 11% higher than the same week one year ago.
But the MBA underscored in commentary accompanying Wednesday’s batch of weekly application data that borrowing costs had swung higher on account of the war, complicating market conditions for borrowers.
“Borrowers in recent weeks were able to get 30-year conforming rates below 6%, but with the current volatility, longer-term rates have moved up, pushing up the 30-year fixed rate to 6.19%,” said Mike Fratantoni, the group’s chief economist. He added that purchase applications for loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) were up 11%.
“The pace of homebuying continues to track ahead of last year’s pace, with overall purchase volume up 10%,” added Fratantoni. “More inventory on the market is supporting more transactions.” Existing-home sales were 4.4% lower over the year in January and 1.4% lower on an annual basis in February, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Annual existing-home sales totals were roughly flat from 4.06 million units in 2024 and 4.07 million in 2025, beating what had been a 30-year low of 4.09 million sales in 2023. Persistent affordability challenges and uncertain economic conditions kept homebuying from staging a stronger recovery last year, despite mortgage rates declining around 0.8%.
Refinance activity was still 81% higher than the same week a year ago, the MBA reported Wednesday, even as mortgage rates rode near-term volatility indexes higher. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 57.8% of total applications from 59.8% the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of applications rose to 8.9%.
While the average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances increased to 6.19%, as Fratantoni noted, the average rate for 30-year loans insured by the FHA rose to 6.02% from 5.97% the previous week.
The FHA share of total applications increased to 17.1% from 15.8% the previous week, while the share of applications for loans backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs fell to 16.1% from 17.1%.
The MBA reported Tuesday that government lending to FHA borrowers tightened in February amid rising FHA delinquency rates. February mortgage rate-lock data indicates FHA purchase locks were down 3% from a year ago and 1.7% over the prior three months.
