US mortgage applications drop as rates rise - MBA

NEW YORK, Feb 13 (Reuters) - U.S. demand for applications to purchase and refinance homes declined last week from the highest level in nearly four years as mortgage rates rose, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted home loan application index fell 2.1 percent in the week ended Feb. 8 to 1,063.5, after hitting a peak in the prior week last seen in late March 2004.

Average borrowing costs on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages, as well as for one-year adjustable-rate loans, rose by 0.11 percentage point last week to 5.72 percent.

Both purchase and refinance application requests slipped during the week, it said.

The MBA's purchase index declined 0.3 percent to 403.9 while its refinancing applications gauge fell 3.0 percent to 4,901.5 on a seasonally adjusted basis. (Reporting by Lynn Adler, editing by Walker Simon)