the numbers after a brief uptick mortgage applications resume their downward spiral as home buyers get hammered by steep mortgage rates as rates march towards 7 buyers have pulled back from purchasing new homes and homeowners hit the brakes on refinancing both declines were reflected in the market composite index a measure of mortgage application volume the mortgage bankers association mba said on wednesday the market index fell 37 to 2548 in the week ending september 23 a year ago the index stood at 7349 it’s worth noting that mortgage news daily is reporting that rates have exceeded 7 based on its daily survey the big picture home buyers likely jumped in to purchase homes last week as seen by a tiny increase in apps and then quickly retreated as rates climbed higher and it’s likely that buyer demand will remain depressed as higher mortgage rates are likely to persist through the rest of the year mortgage rates are now at the highest level since mid2008 frustrated by towering rates some are turning to adjustablerate mortgages which may remind some of the great recession prior to the last recession more than 45 of mortgages issued between 2004 and 2006 were adjustablerate mortgages one report the st louis fed said in 2005 the arm share of the dollar volume of mortgage originations reached nearly 45 corelogic said “the arm share reached 10 of applications and almost 20 of dollar volume” joel kan associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting at the mba said in a statement the last time arms slightly rose in popularly were at the end of june this year key details the refinance index plunged by 109 and was down 84 compared to a year ago the purchase index which measures mortgage applications for the purchase of a home fell by 04 from the previous week the average contract rate for the 30year mortgage for homes sold for 647200 or less was 652 for the week ending september 23 that’s up from 625 the week before the mba said for homes sold for over 647200 the average rate for the 30year was 601 the 15year rose to 57 the rate for adjustablerate mortgages which comprised 104 of total applications rose to 53 market reaction the yield on the 10year treasury note tmubmusd10y rose above 39