Mortgage Applications Drop to 6-Year Low

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) on Wednesday announced its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey which showed a drop of 15.3 percent in mortgage applications volume for the week ending May 30.

Compared with the same week in 2007, applications were down 20.3%, the MBA said.

Refinance volume declined 25.7 percent, pushing total volume lower. Refinance applications accounted for 40.6 percent of total applications, down from 46.1 percent a week earlier.

Overall, mortgage applications last week were 19.7% below a year ago.

Rates on the fixed-rate mortgages tracked in the survey rose last week, with the 30-year fixed rate mortgage averaging 6.17%, up from 5.96% the previous week. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.7%, up from 5.49% the previous week.