Mortgage Applications Fall Slightly for Thanksgiving Week

Mortgage applications continued to decrease during the week of Thanksgiving, the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mortgagebankers.org/default.htm (MBA) reported in its latest Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.

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The survey's Market Composite Index dropped 0.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending November 23. The week's results include an adjustment for the Thanksgiving holiday.

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On an unadjusted basis, the index was down 24 percent.

While the larger index was down, purchase activity continued to rise. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 3 percent from the previous week. While the unadjusted index was down 24 percent from a week before, it still hovers 8 percent higher year-over-year.

At the same time, the Refinance Index was down 2 percent from the last survey. However, the refinance share of mortgage activity remained flat at 81 percent.

Meanwhile, the adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) share of activity fell to 4 percent. The government share of purchase applications also dropping, falling to 33 percent--its lowest share in the survey since early 2009.

The drop in applications comes despite a decrease in mortgage interest rates. According to the survey, the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a conforming balance was 3.53 percent, down one basis point from the previous week.