Mortgage Market Slows Again

Mortgage loan applications dropped slightly in the last week of May, the fourth straight weekly decline, while another index used to measure refinancing dropped to its lowest level in two years.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade group, said loan applications in the week ended May 28 dropped 1.2% from the week before, and were down 55% from the same period a week before, when the 30-year fixed rate was at its record low of 5.14%.

Refinancing dropped to 34.3% of all applications from 36.2% the week before, and adjustable-rate applications also declined to 33.9% of all applications from 34.6% the week before. Adjustable-rate applications reached their highest levels since 1995 in the middle of May, as buyers flocked to lower rates ahead of a widely anticipated Fed rate hike in late June. ...