Mortgage applications remain stuck at low levels

Plus: Inflation outpaces home prices for first time in two years

August 27, 2025

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Disclaimer: Average mortgage rates as of August 26, 2025. © MND Daily Rate Index.

1. Mortgage applications remain stuck at low levels

For the second week in a row, mortgage demand has barely moved, as interest rates also remain stuck in the mud.

  • Total mortgage application volume fell 0.5% last week compared with the previous week.

  • The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.69% from 6.68%.

  • Applications to refinance a home loan fell 4% for the week and were 19% higher than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 45.3% of total applications from 46.1% the previous week.

  • Applications for a mortgage to purchase a home rose 2% for the week and were 25% higher than the same week one year ago.

“Prospective buyers appear to be less sensitive to rates at these levels and are more active, bolstered by more inventory and cooling home-price growth in many parts of the country,” said Joel Kan, an MBA economist, in a release.

2. Michigan Judge strikes down Rocket noncompetes

A Michigan judge invalidated Rocket Mortgage’s noncompete agreements, ruling they are void under the state’s Antitrust Reform Act. Judge Brian Sullivan found the restrictions failed to protect “reasonable competitive business interests” and were overly broad in duration, geography, and scope.

The decision comes in Rocket’s lawsuit against Swift Home Loans and its founder, Andi Numan, a former Rocket employee. Rocket had alleged ex-staffers violated noncompete clauses by joining Swift, which later partnered with rival United Wholesale Mortgage.

Judge Sullivan noted there was no evidence of misused client data or unfair competition, describing Rocket as “essentially a telemarketing operation.” He dismissed the lender’s argument that its employee training investments justified broad restrictions.

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3. More Nuggets

📝 MBA outlines Buy Now, Pay Later underwriting concerns in FHA letter. (HousingWire)

✂️ CFPB to further curb its ability to supervise nonbanks. (Banking Dive)

💰 Lower-income, Gen Z people are investing at record rates, data shows. (Axios)

🎥 Consumers are in neutral as they wait for tariffs to play out. (CNBC)

📰 New American launches insurance marketplace. (Yahoo)

4. Inflation outpaces home prices for first time in two years

National home prices in June were up only 1.9% year-over-year, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index published Tuesday. This marks the slowest pace since the summer of 2023.

This decline is reflective of the housing market’s “new equilibrium” as the market adjusts to an economy where consumers are still battling high inflation, high — albeit falling — mortgage rates, rising costs due to tariffs, and a weak job market.

“For the first time in years, home prices are failing to keep pace with broader inflation. The Consumer Price Index grew 2.7% from June 2024 to June 2025, while national home prices rose 1.9%, this change is historically significant.” Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a release.

5. Trump moves to oust Fed’s Lisa Cook

President Trump on Monday said he was taking the extraordinary step of removing Lisa Cook from the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, in a legally uncertain maneuver that could undermine the independence of the nation’s central bank.

Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook will file a lawsuit challenging her removal by President Donald Trump, setting up a potential standoff between the president and the US central bank.

"President Trump has no authority to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook," her lawyer Abbe David Lowell said in a statement.

The president has said there was "sufficient reason" to believe Cook had made false statements on her mortgage, and cited constitutional powers which he said allowed him to remove her.

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☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Friday!

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