(By Mayur Pahilajani - iStockAnalyst Writer) New York, NY - U.S. weekly home mortgage applications declined by 6.2 percent on seasonally adjusted basis last week from the previous week, led by single-family home loans that tumbled to its lowest level in almost eight years, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) index of applications for the week ended November 14 dropped by  41.3 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier. Last week, a weekly survey report showed that its composite index of mortgage application activity dropped to 398.6, compared to the week prior.

While, MBA’s purchase index plunged by almost 12.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted 248.5, which is the lowest level since December 2000. For the four weeks, the moving average, which is a less volatile measure, of home purchases dropped by 2.7 percent.

The Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association’s survey constitutes around half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, recording actions taken by the homebuyers on mortgages in the on-going slumping housing market condition and low house prices.

The report showed that the refinancing application volumes moved up by 2.6 percent to 1,281.2 last week, compared to 1,248.4 in the week prior. For the four weeks, the moving average, which is a less volatile measure, of refinancings increased by 2.5 percent.

The index for refinancing application activity comprised around 49.9 percent of total mortgage home applications submitted last week, compared to 45.1 percent refinancing applications filed the prior week. Adjustable-rate mortgage applications constituted around 2.6 percent last week, compared to 2.3 percent.

The MBA said Wednesday that applications for 15-year fixed mortgages dropped to 5.87 percent on average basis for the week ended November 14 from 5.90 percent the previous week. The application activity for a one-year adjustable mortgage increased to 6.80 percent on average rate basis from 6.77 percent the previous week.

Meanwhile, the application activity for fixed 30-year mortgages dropped to 6.16 percent in the last week, compared to 6.24 percent the prior week, which is the lowest reading in more than four weeks.