According to data released by the Mortgage Brokers Association (MBA), thanks partially to increasing interest rates, for the week ending February 19, 2010 mortgage loan applications declined 8.5 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis.

According to MBA’s weekly survey, the Refinance Index fell 8.9 percent on a week-to-week basis, while the refinance share of mortgage activity declined to 68.1 percent for total applications. This is a decrease from the 69.3 percent level the prior week. At the same time, the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index fell 7.3 percent, the lowest level since May 1997.