According to HousingWire reporting on the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey for the week ending August 7, 2026, mortgage applications climbed 3.6% after interest rates dipped slightly. The 30-year fixed rate dropped to 6.77%, which came after five straight weeks of rate increases. This modest improvement in rates was enough to spark renewed interest from both borrowers looking to refinance and those shopping for new homes.
The refinance side of the market saw particularly strong activity, jumping 5% from the prior week, though it's still running well behind where it was a year earlier. In fact, refinance applications now make up about 40.7% of all mortgage activity. Meanwhile, purchase applications rose 3% week over week, though they're also down slightly compared to the same period last year. Joel Kan, the MBA's deputy chief economist, noted that while the rate relief was welcome, refinancing incentives have become pretty thin at current levels, which is why the average loan size for refinance deals has dropped to its lowest point since mid-2025.
The data also shows some interesting details on loan types and programs. Adjustable-rate mortgages held steady at 7.9% of applications, and government-backed loans, including FHA, VA, and USDA products, remained largely unchanged in terms of their market share. FHA rates stayed at 6.43%, while 15-year fixed rates ticked down slightly to 6.10%, and adjustable-rate mortgages moved lower to 5.99%.
One additional measure worth noting is the Xactus Mortgage Intent Index, which tracks credit-pull activity and essentially signals buyer interest in the pipeline. This index slipped 0.7% to 119.0, showing a meaningful year-over-year decline of about 11.7%. Thomas Lloyd from Xactus pointed out that while the weekly dip was small, the broader trend suggests that mortgage intent remains considerably softer than it was last year.
What I am seeing locally here in the Bay Area is that those rate movements, even small ones, do matter to our buyers and sellers. When rates come down even a few basis points, we start getting calls from people who had put their plans on hold. The refinance market particularly catches people's attention, though like the national data shows, the economics have to work out. I'm keeping a close eye on whether this trend toward slightly lower rates continues, because that could help move some inventory that's been sitting and bring more qualified buyers back into the market.
