Mortgage Applications Fell 3.8% Last Week: MBA

Mortgage applications fell 3.8 percent from the week earlier, according to the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mbaa.org/default.htm (MBA).

[IMAGE]

The trade group found that application volume waned by 3.3 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis from the week before.

Purchases went up 2.7 percent from one week earlier, climbing by a seasonally unadjusted 3.6 percent in the same vein.

Refinance applications declined

[COLUMN_BREAK]

on the whole. The Refinance Index dipped by 5.6 percent from the week before, as conventional refis slipped by 6.1 percent and government refis climbed down by 2.1 percent.

The refi share of mortgage activity contracted from 75.2 percent to 73.4 percent of applications from the week before. Refi applications for fixed-rate loans outside the 30-year and 15-year amoritization schedules accounted for 12.8 percent of total volume.

As a share of activity, adjustable-rate mortgages went up to 5.6 percent from 5.3 percent of application volume last week.

The four-week moving average ticked up 1.23 percent for the seasonally adjusted Market Index and 1.92 percent for the Refinance Index, while it fell 0.67 percent for the Purchase Index.

Mortgage rates for fixed-rate loans, including those insured by the Federal Housing Administration and others with conforming balances, all went on the decline.

Like interest rates, mortgage applications remain in flux. Uncertainty about sovereign debt in Europe continues to drive investors to the safe haven of U.S. Treasury debt.