Bankers find mortgage applications down

Mortgage applications fell 5.2 percent the last week in June from the previous week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.

In its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending July 1, 2011, the organization said the Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 5.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier.

On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 5.1 percent compared with the previous week.

The Refinance Index decreased 9.2 percent from the previous week. The Refinance Index has decreased for 3 consecutive weeks, reaching its lowest level since May 6, 2011.

The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 4.8 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index increased 4.4 percent compared with the previous week and was 11.7 percent higher than the same week one year ago.

"Stronger economic data toward the end of the week coupled with the end of the Fed's second round of quantitative easing helped bring mortgage rates to their highest level in over a month," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics. "Refinance activity, already constrained by a smaller pool of eligible borrowers, declined in response to the higher rates, but purchase applications picked up appreciably in the week before the July Fourth holiday."