Even with an adjustment for the shortened holiday week, mortgage applications still declined for the week ending July 6, according the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The MBA's Weekly Application Survey shows the Market Composite Index fell 2.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from a week earlier. Unadjusted, the index decreased 22 percent.
Refinance activity continued to fall, although not as drastically as the back-to-back 8 percent drops previously recorded, with a 3 percent decrease from last week. The refinance share of activity dropped to 77 percent of total applications.
In a market with record low rates, continuing decreases in mortgage and refinance activity is somewhat surprising, but there are other contributing factors, according to CNBC.
"If history is any lesson, the only thing that can really extend refi activity in a low rate environment is a loosening of underwriting standards to bring more borrowers into the market," Guy Cecala of Inside Mortgage Finance told CNBC. "And that is not likely to happen anytime soon."
