U.S. mortgage applications fell for a fourth straight week last week despite a jump in refinancings as lower interest rates on fixed-rate loans enticed home-owners to switch out of adjustable-rate mortgages, an industry trade group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity for the week ended December 30 fell 1.5 percent to 545.9 from the previous week’s 554.1. Volume was the lowest level in 3-1/2 years, since the week ended May 24, 2002, when the index reached 516.9.

The group’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose 8.3 percent to 1,363.2 from 1,259.1 the previous week. The index rose for the first time in four weeks.

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