Dive Brief:

• A few days of disappointing housing industry reports pushed mortgage rates lower this week.

• The interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 3.78% from 3.86% a week ago and 4.32% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac.

• Rates, which since the beginning of the year have been teetering up and down, were up last week. But reports that home starts and builder optimism declined pushed the rates back down.

Dive Insight:

However, mortgage applications continue to decline. The number of borrowers applying for home loans has fallen in eight of the last 11 weeks. That, plus a mountain of snow in the Northeast, contributed to the nosedive housing starts took in February, as builders are expecting sales to taper off.