Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. fell for the first time in four weeks last week, as interest rates pushed 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 4.1% in the week ending April 22 to 505.4. That follows a gain of 1.3% to 526.8 in the preceding week.
Refinance applications dropped 5% from the previous week, seasonally adjusted.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances inched up to 3.85% from 3.83% in the preceding week.
"Rising oil prices and an improved outlook for global economic growth combined with declining U.S. jobless claims to push U.S. Treasurys higher during the latter half of last week," said Lynn Fisher, MBA's vice president of research and economics.
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.