Dive Brief:

• Applications for mortgages fell 1.5% last week while interest rates rose to the highest point since December 2014, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday.
• Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.04% for the week ending May 20, according to the group.
• However, the number of applications for the week was 11% higher than during the same week last year, MBA's chief economist Mike Fratantoni said.

Dive Insight:

Last week's dip followed a 3.5% decrease the week before. Industry experts associate mortgage rates with the likelihood of potential buyers to commit to purchasing. However, that correlation hasn't always rung true, as lower rates in recent months haven't always resulted in higher purchasing volume. 

Fratantoni said of the decline: "... the drop this week may indicate borrowers being wary of the recent run-up in mortgage rates."

The mortgage application data is another mixed result for this week's stream of data reports. The somewhat negative MBA release — which only reveals weekly data as opposed to other monthly reports — comes after Tuesday's optimistic result of a steep jump in housing starts last month, and Monday's drop in the builder confidence index from the NAHB.