Investing.com - Mortgage applications in the United States fell for a third straight week during the week ending Feb. 19, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 8.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis from the preceding week. The index had only dropped 2.1% during the previous week.
Michael Fratantoni, the group's vice president of research and economics, said in a statement: "As many East Coast markets were digging out from the blizzard last week, purchase applications fell, another indication that housing demand remains relatively weak.
"With home prices continuing to drift amid an abundant inventory of homes on the market, potential homebuyers do not see any urgency to lock in purchases."
Meanwhile, the group's Refinance Index decreased 8.9% from the previous week. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7.3% from one week earlier, the group added, putting the index at its lowest level since May 1997.
The U.S. dollar fell against the yen in the wake of the data, with USD/JPY shedding 0.19% to hit 90.96.