Increasing Rates Topple Mortgage Applications

Mortgage applications declined for the week ending January 25, according to application data from the ""Mortgage Bankers Association's"":http://www.mortgagebankers.org/default.htm (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

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The survey's Market Composite Index, a measure of application volume, decreased 8.1 percent week-over-week on a seasonally adjusted basis, the association reported. [COLUMN_BREAK]

The results include an adjustment for the Martin Luther King holiday.

On an unadjusted basis, the composite index was down 17 percent from the previous week.

After reaching a two and a half year high ""last week"":https://themreport.com/articles/mba-purchase-applications-reach-highest-level-since-2010-2013-01-23, purchase applications also dipped. According to the MBA, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 2 percent from its previous high. The unadjusted index fell 6 percent, though it still came in 2 percent above the same week in 2012.

The Refinance Index also saw a decline, falling 10 percent week to week. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 79 percent of total applications from 82 percent previously.

Meanwhile, the average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 3.67 percent last week, up from 3.62 percent in the last survey. The rate has increased for six of the last seven weeks, the MBA reported.