Mortgage loan application volumes retreated over the week ending June 12, as interest rates remain elevated through the end of the second quarter. This marked their fourth week of declining volumes over the past five.

A weekly slowdown in purchase demand kept the refinance share of overall activity near the relatively elevated level of 40% it had reached the previous week, according to updated figures from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

The MBA’s Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage application volumes, fell 3.8% during the second week of June, with the seasonally adjusted purchase component index sliding 3% and the refinance index sliding 5% on a weekly basis.

Refinance applications remained 17% higher than the same week one year ago, while purchase applications were 3% higher from a year ago.

Commenting on the weekly figures in a press release, Mike Fratantoni, chief economist at the MBA, observed “stronger growth in conventional purchase volume while government purchase volume remained subdued.”

The share of applications for loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) nudged up slightly to 17.5% from 17.4% the previous week, while the share of applications for loans backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs fell to 12.9% from 13.4%.

MBA data shows the average mortgage rate for typical 30-year home loans was unchanged at 6.6% last week, marking its fourth consecutive week above 6.5%. The average rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA fell slightly to 6.25% from 6.27%.

Fratantoni added that inflation data unveiled last week showing a third month of reaccelerating inflation put “upward pressure on rates early in the week,” though news of a deal to end the ongoing Iran war “brought rates down again by the end of the week.”