Investing.com - The number of mortgage applications in the U.S. fell again last week, as interest rates inched 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, declined by a seasonally adjusted 1.0% in the week ending March 25 to 460.5. That follows a fall of 3.3% to 465.2 in the preceding week.
The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances inched up to 3.94% from 3.93% in the preceding week.
Refinance volume weakened further, down 3.0% from the previous week to its lowest level since July, 2015.
"As the market incorporates beliefs about a lower rate path in the wake of Chairwoman Yellen's comments, mortgage rates are likely to follow the 10 year Treasury yield downwards this week," said Lynn Fisher, the Mortgage Bankers Association's vice president of research and economics.
The survey covers over 75% of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.