The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that its index of mortgage applications dropped 3.5% to 499 in the week ending August 7.

Celia Chen of Moody's Economy.com said that higher rates were responsible for the drop off in applications. A 30-year fixed mortgage, excluding fees, stood at 5.38% up .21 from the previous week. Interest rates last year were 6.57%.

Chen went on to say: "The bigger obstacle to home buying is job losses and tight qualifying conditions for borrowing."

Home prices are still under pressure due to growing foreclosures. Moody's Economy.com is expecting 3.85 million defaults this year compared with 2.7 million last year.

Are mortgage rates affecting U.S. mortgage applications? The short answer most likely is yes. Mortgage applications tumbled to a 7 month low, with refinancing loans down 30%, according to Reuters. This is clearly not a good sign for the housing market.

Kenneth Rosen from the University of California says that mortgage rates are just one factor causing the drop. He adds that high unemployment, concerns for job security, and problems with buyers being unable to sell their existing homes are also affecting the market.

U.S. stock futures edged higher Wednesday morning following Tuesday's general declines as economic indicators at home and around the world disappointed.

This morning, though, financials were back in the spot light with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) raising $13.5 billion through a stock offering to help it meet the government's capital requirements following the recent stress testing. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is also set to testify today.

Meanwhile, there is news the Obama administration may create a regulatory commission to protect consumers of financial products such as credit cards and mortgages, as they try to crack down on abuses.

Today's news from the Mortgage Bankers Association that mortgage applications jumped from an eight-year low could be a sign that we're starting to see a turnaround in the housing market.

But don't get your hopes up too high if you're trying to sell your house. Many of the mortgages being taken today are being used to purchase foreclosures and short sales. If you're holding on for a better price, you probably have at least a year to wait.

Most economists still predict that we won't see a bottom in the housing market until mid to late 2009. Maybe all the cash being pumped into the system is finally starting to work and will speed up the process.

The good news is that people are back in the market to buy homes. We must clear out the backlog of foreclosures before we'll see any significant jump in sales of new and existing homes. As was reported last week, existing homes sales jumped but prices dropped 9%. That reflects the fact that most of the existing home sales were distressed sales.

Mortgage applications increased 7.5% for the week ended July 4, 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's composite index of applications increased to 513.4, on a seasonally-adjusted basis, from last week's 477.7.

Compared to a year ago, the composite index is down 18.1% on an unadjusted basis.

The Refinance Index increased 8.7% to 1,379.3 from 1,269.2 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 6.7% to 365.8 from 342.8 one week earlier.

Meanwhile, the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan increased slightly to 6.43% from 6.33% the prior week. The average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage increased to 5.94% from 5.90%.

Mortgage applications decreased 9.3% for the week ended June 20, 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's composite index of applications declined to 461.3, on a seasonally-adjusted basis from last week's 508.4. Compared to a year ago, the composite index is down 25.3% on an unadjusted basis.

Also, the Refinance Index decreased 12.1% to 1,212.2 from 1,378.6 the previous week and the seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 7.4% to 333.4 from 360.2 one week earlier.

Mortgage rates dip

Meanwhile, the average rate for a 30-year fixed loan decreased slightly to 6.39% from 6.57% the prior week. The average rate for a 15-year fixed mortgage decreased to 5.95% from 6.14%.

Mortgage applications increased a seasonally-adjusted 8.3% compared to the prior week on continued, lower interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced Wednesday in a statement.

Furthermore, the association said refinance applications rose 16.9% during the week ended January 18, 2008 compared to the previous week, and are up 92% since November 2007. Purchase applications are up 7% during the same period. Also, the 4-week moving average for all loan applications increased 13.7% compared with the same period a year ago.

The average interest rate for the 15-year fixed-rate mortgage was 4.96%, down from 5.07%. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 5.49%, down from 5.62%. The rate for a one-year ARM was 5.51%, down from 5.77%.

After months and months of dreary news from the worlds of housing and real estate, here's a bit of a pick-me-up: applications for mortgages rose 32.2% during the week of January 4, which was shortened by the New Year's holiday. This was a welcome change, as demand had been heading lower for the three previous weeks.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said in its weekly findings that its overall application index rose to 706 from 533.9 the previous week. Holiday-season volatility could be partially responsible for this jump -- in the week surrounding New Year's Day 2007, the application index was 16.6% higher.

Refinance volume spiked 53.9% during the week, while purchase activity was up 14.7%. Refinance applications accounted for 57.7% of total applications, up from 50.9% the previous week. (With all the speculation surrounding future rate cuts, wouldn't homeowners want to wait and see what happens at the next Federal Open Market Committee meeting in two-plus weeks?)