- Gates Boosts Waste Management, Coca Cola Stakes
- Stocks Overvalued; Recession to Return: Whitney
- What's Kept Stock Rally Going? Fear, Not Confidence
- Fed to Keep Rates Low Despite Dollar's Fall: Bernanke
- Millions Could Have to Repay Part of Obama's Tax Credit
- Hollywood Turns to Porn as Unemployment Rises
- Slideshow: US Cities With Most Underwater Mortgages
- Solar Energy Emerges From a Dark Period
- Gold Is in a 'Bubble' And Will Keep Going Higher: Gartman
- Answers to Your Questions: A Path to Economic Disaster?
- 5 Ways to Play the Chinese Markets: Analyst
- Meredith Whitney: Turns Bearish
- 3 Stock Plays on Rising College Costs
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- Nov. 16: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Getting to the Heart of the Merck-Abbott Embargo Break
- What MGM's Sale Could Say About Value of Content
- My Ratings on Lowe's & Home Depot: Analyst
MOST SHARED
- Stocks Overvalued, Recession Will Return: Meredith Whitney
- Has Twitter's Finest Hours (Seconds) Come and Gone?
- Fed Likely to Keep Rates Low Despite Dollar's Fall: Bernanke
- U.S. May Wind Up Green With Envy
- Bernanke Offers Something For Everyone
- BofA Ex-Counsel: I Was 'Stunned' When I Got Fired
- U.S. Cities With The Most Underwater Mortgages
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Almost Doubles Wal-Mart Holdings During Summer
- Stanford Receiver to Release Funds Of Frozen Acounts
- Vineyard Serves Up Sustainable Wine
Text Size 
U.S. mortgage applications fell last week, weighed down by a plunge in demand for home
refinancing as interest rates reached seven-month highs, an industry group said Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications for the week ended May 25 dropped 7.3% to 636.4.
Borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, excluding fees, averaged 6.32 percent, up 0.09 percentage point from the previous week and its highest since the week ended Oct. 20, when it stood at 6.36%.
Interest rates, however, were well below year-ago levels of 6.66%.
The group's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications dropped 13% to 1,874.6., the lowest since January, when it touched 1,848.8.
The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 39.7% of total applications from 42.3 percent the previous week.
The average contract rate for 15-year mortgages also increased, rising to 6.05% from 5.96%.
The adjustable-rate mortgage activity decreased to 17.7% of total applications from 18.1% the previous week.
The MBA's seasonally adjusted purchase index fell 2.5% to 427.0. The index, however, was above its year-ago level of 395.5. The purchase index is considered a timely gauge of U.S. home sales.
Print
Email
- Where, what, how.
- CNBC's Jim Goldman asks: Has the sun begun to set on Twitter? Data suggests its best days are over.
- Everyone wanted a piece of Madoff's "Bullship"--the famous buoy sold for $7,500 at auction. You won't believe these prices.
- De Loach Vineyards is selling its pinot noir the old fashioned way, helping to cut energy and transportation costs.
- Why are the Chinese concerned about the progress of U.S. health care legislation?
- CNBC's Maria Bartiromo talks to rapper Snoop Dogg about brand identity in both business and music.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes