Mortgage applications fall 5% as interest rates rise

by KERRI PANCHUK

Mortgage applications declined 5% last week as interest rates spiked across the United States, an industry trade group said Wednesday.

The slowdown follows a week of robust activity, with mortgage applications rising more than 15% a week earlier on increased refinacing activity.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its market composite index, a measure of loan mortgage application volume, dropped 5% on a seasonally adjusted basis and 4.9% on an unadjusted basis when compared to a week earlier.

The refinance index and the seasonally adjusted purchase index fell 5.5% and 3.8%, respectively, from a week ago, while the unadjusted purchase index declined 3.4%.

The four-week moving average for the purchase index dropped 0.5% this past week, while the four-week moving averages for the refinance index and market index declined by 0.3% each.

Refinance activity made up 69.6% of total application volume, down from 70% a week prior.

The interest rates for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rose to 4.57% last week from 4.54% a week earlier. The average 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased slightly to 3.67% from 3.66%.

URL to original article: http://www.housingwire.com/2011/07/27/mortgage-applications-fall-5-as-interest-rates-rise

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