Mortgage Apps Slip as Interest Rates Rise

A slight increase in interest rates brought mortgage application volumes down in the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) latest survey.

The group reported Wednesday that total application activity, including purchase and refinance numbers, fell 3.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending January 23. The decline also included an adjustment for the Martin Luther King holiday.

The drop accompanied a small increase in fixed mortgage rates. According to MBA, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate conforming loan was 3.83 percent last week compared to 3.80 percent the week prior.

Refinance demand, which tends to follow rate movements, fell 5 percent week-over-week in response, dragging the refinance share of total applications down to 72 percent from 74 percent previously.

Meanwhile, purchase mortgage volumes slipped just 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, hovering about 1 percent higher than where they were around this time last year.