Investing.com - The number of mortgage application in the U.S. fell for the third straight week last week, as higher interest rates dampened demand, 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 1.3% in the week ending November 6 to 408.7. That follows a drop of 0.8% to 414.2 in the preceding week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances inched up to a 13-week high of 4.12% from 4.01% in the previous week.
"Mortgage rates were up for the third-consecutive week as markets responded to a stronger-than-expected job market report for October," said Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the MBA.
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.