Slightly lower mortgage rates failed to impress potential borrowers last week. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, ticked up 0.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier but was down 10.0 percent before adjustment. The Refinance Index was essentially unchanged from the previous week and was 26.0 percent higher than the same week in 2023. Refinancing accounted for 35.1 percent of total applications compared to 35.2 percent the previous week. [refiappschart] The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index gained 2.0 percent from one week earlier.  Applications were down 10.0 percent on an unadjusted basis and 13.0 percent lower than the level the same week one year ago. [purchaseappschart] Volume data includes an adjustment for the Juneteenth holiday. Mortgage rates were mostly lower last week, with the 30-year fixed rate declining slightly to 6.93 percent, the lowest level in more than three months,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Lower rates, however, were still not enough to entice refinance borrowers back, as most continue to hold mortgages with considerably lower rates. ” Added Kan, “Purchase applications did see a small increase after adjusting for the Juneteenth holiday. Government purchase loans, primarily FHA and VA, saw gains of more than 2 percent over the previous week, as homebuyers in those segments sought to take advantage of the recent rate relief.”