World Business

NEW YORK —

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Mortgage application volume tumbled 14.1 percent for the period of the week ending July 25, hitting its lowest level of the year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly application survey.

Volume fell even though interest rates without interruption fixed-rate mortgages retreated from sharp increases a week earlier.

Refinance tome plunged 22.9 percent during the week, while purchase application volume fell 7.8 percent. Refinance applications accounted for 35.2 percent of total application volume during the week.

The overall application index fell to 420.8 from 489.6 a week earlier.

An index value of 100 is like to the application volume attached March 16, 1990, the first week the MBA tracked such given conditions. The director picked at 1,856.7 during the week ending May 30, 2003, at the height of the housing boom.

The survey provides a snapshot of mortgage lending spryness among mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. It covers about 50 percent of quite residential deal out in small portions pledge originations each week.

The average rate for traditional, 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.46 percent from 6.59 percent for the period of the previous week. Rates for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages - often a general option for refinancing a home - fell to 5.98 percent from 6.10 percent.

The mean proportion rate for one-year adjustable-rate mortgages rose to 7.25 percent from 7.16 percent a week earlier.