Mortgage applications fell 2.5 percent last week, according to the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mbaa.org/default.htm.
[IMAGE] [COLUMN_BREAK]The trade group found application volume declining by 3 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis. Purchases fell 0.8 percent from the week before and 3 percent on a seasonally unadjusted basis.
The refinance share of mortgage activity stayed the same from last week, hovering at 79 percent, with the adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity ticking up to 5 percent of total volume.
Interest rates for fixed-rate mortgages by and large fell with volume. Thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages priced at $417,500 or less declined to 3.78 percent, while interest rates for those home loans valued at more than $417,500 fell to 4.05 percent.
The same rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration fell to 3.54 percent, down from 3.60 percent, just as those for 15-year home loans climbed down from 3.12 percent to 3.10 percent.
Average contract interest rates for 5-year and 1-year adjustable-rate mortgages stepped down to 2.64 percent from 2.68 percent last week.