Mortgage applications fell to a more than 3-1/2-year low last week amid a sharp drop in demand for loan refinancing even as interest rates held steady, an industry trade group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications for the week ended December 23 decreased 6.8 percent to 554.1 from the previous week’s 594.6. Volume was at its lowest level since the week ended May 24, 2002, when the index hit 516.9.
