Mortgage applications slide last week

NEW YORK — Applications for mortgages fell last week as higher mortgage rates chased borrowers away.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday overall applications for loans declined 2.3 percent from the previous week.

Refinance applications slipped 0.7 percent, while purchase applications dropped 5 percent from the previous week.

Rates on both 30-year and 15-year mortgages increased to the highest levels in at least six months.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan rose to 4.84 from 4.66 percent from a week earlier, the group's survey showed. Rates on the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage, a common refinancing option, increased to 4.21 percent from 3.98 percent.

Mortgage rates have risen in the last five weeks as investors took money out of Treasurys. The sell-off has been fueled by the White House's recent tax-cut proposal. That has increased their yields, which mortgage rates tend to track.

Before that, mortgage rates had been at or near their lowest levels in decades since spring.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's survey covers more than 50 percent of all applications nationwide.