U.S. mortgage applications fall

WASHINGTON, July 11 (UPI) -- U.S. mortgage applications fell 22 percent last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index decreased 22 percent compared with the previous week. The refinance index decreased 3 percent from the previous week.

The unadjusted purchase Index decreased 17 percent compared with the previous week and was 3 percent lower than the same week one year ago. The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 77 percent of total applications from the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share of activity remained about 4 percent of total applications, the MBA said.

The average loan size of all loans for home purchase in the United States was $240,897 in June, down from $243,733 in May. The average loan size for a refinance was $218,619, down from $226,576 in May.

The average interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances decreased to 3.79 percent from 3.86 percent. The interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances decreased to 4.05 percent from 4.08 percent. The rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.63 percent.