More applicants are choosing adjustable rates. HousingWire reports the ARM share of MBA mortgage applications rose to 11.4% last week, even as total applications fell 1.2% and purchase applications fell 4%. Mortgage News Daily's 7/6 SOFR ARM reads 6.73% this morning against 7.22% on its own 30-year fixed, a gap of 0.49 point. A product gaining share in a slow market is a product your buyers will hear about from someone, and it is better that they hear it from you, tradeoffs included.
The rate context makes this a payment conversation, not a timing bet. Bankrate's 30-year fixed holds at 7.22%, the low of its 30-day window but still in the upper part of its 90-day range of 6.67% to 7.57%. On a $400K loan, the 7/6 ARM at 6.73% runs about $2,589 a month in principal and interest against about $2,721 on the fixed at 7.22%, about $131 a month less, or roughly $11,000 over the seven-year fixed period. The segment that fits is buyers who expect to sell or refinance within that window: first move-up buyers, households likely to relocate and buyers stretching to qualify on a home they plan to grow out of.
The tactical move is a two-column explainer rather than a rate pitch. Put the fixed and the ARM side by side on one loan amount, show the monthly difference and the seven-year total, then state plainly that the ARM rate can change after year seven and what the caps on your product allow. Keep that last line in: a payment figure without the adjustment terms reads as a teaser rate, and under Regulation Z's advertising rules a stated payment is a trigger term that brings its own required disclosures. With PMMS today and the October jobs report Friday, a short video recorded this week has a natural peg.
build one fixed-versus-ARM comparison on a $400K purchase using your own sheet's pricing and caps, and send it to every active purchase file that has not locked.