Mortgage Application Volume Declines

Washington, DC, Feb. 15, 2012 -- Mortgage application volume fell last week on a steep drop in demand for home purchases, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

MBA said its index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 1.0% in the week ended Feb 10.

The gauge of loan requests for home purchases was down 8.4%, though the index refinancing applications edged up 0.8%.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity also rose to 81.1% of applications from 80.5% the week before.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.08%, up from 4.05%.