Mortgage Rates Inch Higher – Mortgage Applications Volume Declines

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association a small uptick in mortgage rates, the average contract interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased to 3.99% from 3.98%, resulted in a decrease of 5.3% in new mortgage applications when compared to last week. However, they were 5% higher when compared to the same week one year ago.  Refinancing a home loan also fell 5% from the previous week but were still 128% higher than a year ago.