Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. fell for the first time in four weeks last week, despite lower interest rates, industry data showed on Wednesday.
In a report, the Mortgage Bankers Association said their mortgage market index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, declined by a seasonally adjusted 2.6% in the week ending January 29 to 460.6. That follows a gain of 8.8% to 472.8 in the preceding week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances inched down to 3.97% from 4.02% in the preceding week.
"Mortgage rates fell below 4 percent in our survey for the first time since October 2015. The jumbo rate also decreased and was at its lowest level since April 2015," said Michael Fratantoni, chief economist for the MBA.
"Despite the fall in rates, mortgage application activity was likely muted by the major East Coast snowstorm, although refinance activity increased very slightly," he added.
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.