Higher interest rates pushed mortgage refinancing activity down further last week, and home buying isn’t picking up the slack.
Total mortgage application volume fell 3.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. It is nearly 21 percent higher than the same week one year ago.
A 6 percent drop in refinance volume was behind the weekly drop. Refinance activity has been falling steadily for the past month, now dipping to its lowest level since August. Mortgage interest rates are still historically low, but they did rise last week.
