Mortgage rates barely moved last week, and neither did borrower demand. Total mortgage application volume edged down 0.4% from the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.
The average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming loan balance — $832,750 or less — held at 6.77%, with points dipping to 0.65 from 0.67, including the origination fee, for loans with a 20% down payment.
Refinance applications rose 2% for the week but remained 18% below the same week a year ago, when rates were slightly lower. The modest uptick was driven by conventional and VA loans, while FHA refinances declined.
Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist at the MBA, noted that borrowers with larger loan balances are staying put at current rate levels. The average refinance loan size shrank to $282,200 last week — the lowest since June 2025 — as smaller-balance borrowers accounted for a larger share of activity.
Purchase applications fell 2% for the week and were 3% lower than a year earlier. Rates have been hovering at the higher end of their recent range, and that is weighing on would-be buyers.
“In addition to the economic uncertainty, affordability difficulties have reemerged as a reason for homebuyers to delay purchase decisions given the impact of higher mortgage rates on monthly mortgage payments,” Kan said.
The start of this week brought a fresh uptick in mortgage rates, according to a separate survey from Mortgage News Daily, though the move was described as slight.
Source: www.cnbc.com — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/19/mortgage-demand-stalls-along-with-interest-rates.html
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