Mortgage applications bounced back in the latest week, with both purchase and refinance activity moving higher. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a 6.2% increase in total application volume for the week ending November 6, 2026. NOTE: That Nov 6th date is important as it marked the bottom of the range for interest rates after a nice decline that began in mid October. Rates have risen sharply since then so all that follows is likely a bit of a retrospective. In other words, application demand will probably fall again in next week's data thanks to this week's higher rates.  Purchase applications led the improvement, rising 8% on a seasonally adjusted basis, while refinances increased 5%. Despite the weekly gains, both categories remain well below year-ago levels. Purchase applications were still 18% below year-ago levels , while refinance activity was down 57% . The refinance share of total applications held steady at 39.8%, while adjustable-rate mortgage applications accounted for 10.9% of activity, down slightly from the previous week. “The declining trend in rates helped to spur stronger application activity, although the pace of purchase and refinance applications remain considerably lower than a year ago,” said MBA's Joel Kan. FHA and VA purchase applications saw particularly strong gains. The FHA rate fell below 7% for the first time in several weeks, reaching 6.98%, more than 20 basis points below the conforming rate. It is important to note: Kan references the Freddie Mac rate survey here, and real rates have risen materially in the past few days.