Mortgage rates rise, loan applications fall and mortgages loan

Rising interest rates put a crimp in new and refinanced loans last week.
The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its new loan application index fell 2.9 percent from a week earlier, while its refinance index dropped 8.8 percent.
However, the Washington, D.C.-based group said its index that gauges purchases increased 7.4 percent from the previous week, reaching its highest level since October.
"Purchase activity continues to increase as we approach the end of the homebuyer tax credit program," said Michael Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics. "Purchase applications were up almost 9 percent from a month ago, with a disproportionate share of the increase due to government purchase applications. Government applications for purchasing a home accounted for almost 49 percent of all purchase applications last week."
The average interest rate for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.08 percent from 5.04 percent.
The average interest rate for 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages increased to 4.38 percent from 4.34 percent.
The average interest rate for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages increased to 7.03 percent from 6.95 percent.
On Tuesday, the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index found home prices were down in February, but are not falling as much as in the past. Prices in Miami slid 0.5 percent between January and February, and were down 4.4 percent, year-over-year

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