Mortgage and refinance applications fall

Mortgage applications dipped 4.6% for the week ended May 23, compared with the previous week, due to a drop in refinancing activity, according to data from the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association. The decrease brought the Market Composite Index, which measures loan application volume, down to 593.3 on a seasonally adjusted basis, from 621.6 the previous week. Refinance applications decreased 8.9% last week, compared with the week ended May 16, and were down 7.5% from the year-earlier period, the MBA report stated. Applications for mortgages to purchase homes rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% on a week-to-week basis. The four-week moving average for all loans was up 1%, according to the survey. The data include about half the U.S. retail-residential-mortgage applications and has been conducted weekly since 1990.