While the average interest rate for 30-year mortgages in the US remained above 7 percent, mortgage applications continued to decline.
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced mortgage data for the week ending February 23rd.
Accordingly, mortgage applications decreased by 5.6 percent last week compared to the previous week.
Mortgage applications, which have been declining for five weeks, approached the lowest level recorded since 1995.
During this period, applications for home purchases fell 5 percent and refinancing applications fell 7 percent.
The average interest rate for a 30-year mortgage in the country continued to remain above 7 percent, although it decreased slightly last week. The rate, which has been close to its highest level since early December last year, decreased from 7.06 percent to 7.04 percent in this period.
In the same period, the average interest rate for a 15-year mortgage increased from 6.61 percent to 6.70 percent.
MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni, in his assessment of the data, stated that mortgage interest rates changed little last week, the 30-year interest rate decreased slightly, but remained high compared to the beginning of the year.
Fratantoni noted that the high rates in recent weeks have slowed the pace of applications.
