Mortgage application activity pulled back last week as higher borrowing costs weighed on both home purchase and refinance demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 6.4% decrease in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 24. Purchase applications decreased 4% from the previous week on a seasonally adjusted basis but remained 3% higher than the same week one year ago. While housing inventory has improved in some markets, elevated mortgage rates continue to challenge affordability for many prospective buyers. Refinance activity weakened more sharply, with the Refinance Index falling 10% from the prior week and dropping 2% below year-ago levels. The decline suggests that fewer homeowners have an incentive to refinance as rates continue to climb. “Following last week’s spike in oil prices, mortgage rates moved higher, with the 30-year fixed rate increasing to 6.76 percent, the highest rate since August 2025,” said Joel Kan, CMB, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “This upward trajectory in rates continues to significantly impact refinance borrowers, with a 10 percent decline in refinance applications, including a steeper drop in government refinances. Despite housing inventory increasing in certain markets, higher rates have added to ongoing affordability challenges for many homebuyers, which drove the decrease in purchase activity over the week.”

July 31, 2026 Download our Mobile App: Download our Mobile App: 30 Yr. Fixed 6.83% +0.06%   5.99% 6.85% 15 Yr. Fixed 6.32% +0.01%   5.55% 6.34% 30 Yr. Jumbo 6.91% +0.01%   6.1% 6.92% Compare Mortgage Rates from Local Lenders for Jul 31, 2026 Mortgage Rates Back Near Long-Term Highs Fri, Jul 31, 2026 1:36PM To be fair, mortgage rates haven't been far from their long-term highs in over a week, but today's 30yr fixed index level of 6.83% is functionally equivalent to the actual long-term high of 6.85% seen on July 23rd.   Higher rates are driven by weakness in the bond market. The latter can happen for many reasons. Sometimes those reasons are as simple as an economic report showing stronger job growth or higher inflation. Other times, the reasons are more esoteric. Today's bond market weakness may have been modestly influenced by this morning's Employment Cost Index, but the bigger iss... (read more) Mortgage News Daily Rate Change Points 30 Yr. Fixed 6.83% +0.06 0.00 15 Yr. Fixed 6.32% +0.01 0.00 30 Yr. FHA 6.34% +0.01 0.00 30 Yr. Jumbo 6.91% +0.01 0.00 7/6 SOFR ARM 6.37% +0.04 0.00 30 Yr. VA 6.36% +0.02 0.00 Updates Daily - Last Update: 7/31 Freddie Mac Rate Change Points 30 Yr. Fixed 6.66% +0.08 0.00 15 Yr. Fixed 6.04% +0.08 0.00 Updates Weekly - Last Update: 7/30 Mortgage Bankers Assoc. 30 Yr. Fixed 6.76% +0.07 0.69 15 Yr. Fixed 6.15% +0.11 0.84 30 Yr. Jumbo 6.70% +0.26 0.52 Updates Weekly - Last Update: 7/29 UMBS 30YR 5.5 98.89 -0.41   98.89 101.64 UMBS 30YR 6.0 101.05 -0.30   101.05 102.75 10 YR Treasury 4.744 +0.071   3.948 4.744 Japan Currency Intervention, Oil, and Data Causing Some Selling Fri, Jul 31, 2026 9:09AM Japan's Ministry of Finance (MOF) and central bank (BOJ) are a bit more closely linked than Treasury and the Fed. For example, the MOF can instruct the BOJ to sell a bunch of securities to pop up the value of domestic currency. They did this in relatively grand fashion yesterday, but the selling didn't appear to involve Treasuries (as it sometimes does). Now... (read more) MBS Price Change UMBS 5.0 96.40 -0.49 UMBS 5.5 98.89 -0.41 UMBS 6.0 101.06 -0.29 GNMA 5.0 96.71 -0.54 GNMA 5.5 99.29 -0.46 GNMA 6.0 101.67 -0.13 Pricing as of: 7/31 4:23PM EST US Treasury Yield Change 2 YR Treasury 4.284 +0.034 5 YR Treasury 4.449 +0.058 7 YR Treasury 4.593 +0.062 10 YR Treasury 4.736 +0.063 30 YR Treasury 5.269 +0.057 Pricing as of: 7/31 4:23PM EST Other News Mortgage Applications Fall 6.4% as Rates Continue Upward March Fri, Jul 31, 2026 12:33PM Mortgage application activity pulled back last week as higher borrowing costs weighed on both home purchase and refinance demand. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 6.4% decrease in total application volume on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending July 24. Purchase applications decreased 4% from the previous week on a seasonally... (read more) Regional Divide Persists as Home Price Growth Edges Higher in May Fri, Jul 31, 2026 12:41PM Home price appreciation remained modest in May, according to data from both FHFA and the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Indices . Although both reports showed annual price growth improving slightly from April, appreciation continued to trail inflation, underscoring a housing market where elevated mortgage rates, affordability pressures, and unev... (read more) Verification, CRA Tracking, State-Level Tax and MGIC Webinars, Non-Agency Product Developments Fri, Jul 31, 2026 11:49AM I am no numerologist, but Freddie Mac’s announcement yesterday, that 30-year mortgage rates are averaging 6.66, caught my attention. Unlike rumors, like the one going around about a Texas IMB buying California IMB, hard, provable numbers are hard to argue with… Like the hundreds of thousands of people every month turning 62. Setting up a reverse division at ... (read more) Latest Video Fed's Logan: 'Prices have continued to rise too rapidly' Fed will have to start raising rates soon, says former Philadelphia Fed Pre... You don't want a central bank that creates or suppresses volatility, says P... 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