Mortgage application volume fell 6.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ended July 18, reversing three straight weeks of mild improvement, according to the latest survey from the MBA.
On an unadjusted basis, the home loan application index decreased 6.1 percent from the prior week and was off 19.6 percent from the same week a year earlier.
The fall was led by a 7.7 percent decrease in FHA loan applications, a 6.7 percent slowing in purchase apps, and a 5.6 percent decrease in refinance activity.
On top of that, interest rates shot back up in a major way, with the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage climbing to 6.59 percent from 6.22 percent a week earlier.
The 15-year fixed proved no better, rising to 6.10 percent during the week from 5.74 percent seven days prior.
Despite this, the refinance share of mortgage activity increased to 39.4 percent of total application volume, up slightly from 39.2 percent a week before.
Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for just 8.5 percent of total activity, down from 9.1 percent the prior week, perhaps because the average one-year ARM stood unchanged at a hefty 7.16 percent.
The MBA survey covers roughly 50 percent of retail home loan applications, but should be taken with a grain of salt because it counts multiple and rejected applications in its numbers.
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