Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. fell for the second week in a row, as interest rates moved higher, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Mortgage Bankers Association said their mortgage market index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased by a seasonally adjusted 2.1% in the week ending August 19 to 530.1. That follows a drop of 4.0% to 541.5 in the preceding week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances inched up to 3.67% from 3.64% in the preceding week.
Applications to refinance a home loan fell 3% for the week, while home purchase applications, which are far less rate-sensitive week to week, dipped 0.3% last week.
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.