The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Purchase Applications Payment Index (PAPI) data for February indicates a rise in the monthly cost of home ownership. The national median payment applied for by purchase applicants escalated from $2,134 in January to $2,184 in February.

According to an MBA press release, the national PAPI was 170.7 in February, marking a 2.4% increase from 166.8 in January. While there was a 4.8% increase in median earnings from January, payments saw a more significant rise of 6.0%.

According to MBA, borrowers within the lower-payment mortgages tier (the 25th percentile) experienced a $35 mortgage payment increase, climbing to $1,473 in February from $1,438 in January.

An increase in MBA's PAPI is indicative of a decline in borrower affordability due to a higher mortgage payment-to-income ratio (PIR), according to the press release. This could be attributed to increasing application loan amounts or potentially rising mortgage rates or declining earnings.

The MBA release noted that homebuyer affordability decreased for Black, Hispanic, and White households in February. For Black households, the national PAPI increased from 163.1 in January to 166.9 in February. Hispanic households saw an increase from 159.3 in January to 163.1 in February while for Whites, the national PAPI climbed from 170.2 in January to 174.2 in February.

"Homebuyer affordability conditions declined further in February as recent economic data on jobs and inflation continue to keep mortgage rates elevated to around 7 percent," according to Edward Seiler, MBA’s associate vice president of Housing Economics and executive director of the Research Institute for Housing America.

Seiler went on to say that "challenging affordability conditions and low housing supply are keeping some prospective homebuyers on the sidelines this spring. The eventual, expected decline in rates in the coming months will hopefully spur new activity in the housing market."