US mortgage applications fell for a second straight week, with a slump in demand for government loans driving activity to its lowest level in three months, data from an industry group showed on Wednesday. Demand for home loan refinancing and purchase loans, a tentative early indicator of home sales, both slid, indicative of a housing market that remains highly vulnerable to setbacks just weeks away from the expiration of federal home buyer tax credits.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage applications, which includes both purchase and refinance loans, for the week ended April 9, decreased 9.6 percent, reaching its lowest level since the week ended January 1.