Mortgage Applications Fell 10% Last Week

Applications for U.S. home mortgages dropped last week, erasing the gains of the week before as demand for refinancing evaporated, an industry group said Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, dropped 10.0 percent in the week ended Nov 11.

The decline wiped out a gain of 10.3 percent the previous week.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications tumbled 12.2 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases slipped 2.3 percent.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity decreased to 77.3 percent of applications from 78.6 percent.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.23 percent, up 1 basis point, from 4.22 percent the prior week.

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.