Mortgage application volumes declined during the last week of October, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Wednesday, marking their eighth decrease over the past nine weeks.

Despite easing for a third consecutive week, MBA data shows 30-year mortgage rates averaged 7.3% last week — about a full percentage point above year-ago levels.

The trade group’s Market Composite Index, which tracks mortgage application volumes, subsequently declined 1.2%. Purchase demand slid 2% from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis and remained 19% lower than a year ago.

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Mortgage demand has broadly weakened since late summer amid higher rates. But consumers also remain deeply pessimistic about the U.S. economy amid elevated inflation expectations, geopolitical and trade tensions and percolating job anxieties concerning artificial intelligence.

“While the 30-year rate declined to 7.3%, activity is still quite slow, with purchase application volume down for the week and refinance volume effectively flat at a very low level,” noted Mike Fratantoni, chief economist of the MBA, in commentary accompanying the weekly figures.

The previous week, application demand had posted its first weekly increase since August, with mortgage rates down from recent peaks near 7.5% in mid-October. Purchase applications had risen 4%, though were still about 18% below year-ago levels.

“As we have highlighted in recent weeks, more borrowers are choosing ARMs in this environment to lower their initial payments, with the ARM share at its highest level since September 2025,” added Fratantoni, referring to adjustable-rate mortgages that can carry initial rates up to 1% lower than typical 30-year fixed-rate loans.

The ARM share of total applications bumped up slightly to 11.4% from 11.3% the previous week after sustaining a 10.5% share through the first half of October. Typical mortgage rates for 5/1 ARMs — which carry a fixed rate for the first five years of the loan before adjusting once annually — declined to 6.29% last week from 6.41% the week prior.

The share of weekly applications for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration declined to 16% from 16.6%, while application share increased slightly to 11.2% for mortgages backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.