MBA Mortgage Applications in United States

Measures the weekly change in the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Market Composite Index, which captures the volume of mortgage applications in the US (purchases plus refinancing), seasonally adjusted. The survey covers around three quarters of the retail mortgage market.

A composite index of application volume built by the MBA (base 100 in March 1990); the published figure is its percentage change from the previous week, seasonally adjusted.

It is a very early weekly indicator of housing demand and of the market's sensitivity to mortgage rates: when rates fall, refinancing and purchases tend to pick up. It offers an advance read on the pulse of the US housing market.

It is highly volatile from week to week and sensitive to public holidays (weeks with fewer working days), so the trend matters more than any single reading.