U.S. mortgage applications fall in latest week: MBA

[March 18, 2015] Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell last week as both purchase and refinancing applications decreased, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, fell 3.9 percent in the week ended March 13.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 5.2 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, fell 1.5 percent.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity fell to 59 percent of applications, the lowest level since October 2014, from 60 percent the week before.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Leslie Adler); [e-mail]; [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail])

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