An uptick in interest rates brought early March mortgage applications down, the Mortgage Bankers Association [1] (MBA) reported.
MBA's Market Composite Index, a weekly released measure of mortgage loan application volume, fell 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending March 7. On an unadjusted basis, the index dropped 1 percent.
Refinance applications were down 3 percent week-over-week, representing about 57 percent of total applications—the lowest share since April 2011, according to MBA.
In purchase loan activity, applications fell 1 percent (both adjusted and unadjusted) on a weekly basis. Compared to last year, purchase loan applications were down 17 percent.
Meanwhile, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate loan rose to 4.52 percent, with points coming up to 0.29 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value mortgages.