U.S. Mortgage Applications Fall

Despite all the incentives to buy a home, fewer people in America are employed and there's not much demand for mortgages.

And there's not much demand by lenders to lend except to people with the highest credit ratings.

Borrowing costs are near record lows.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. mortgage applications fell last week despite the lowest loan rates in four months, the Mortgage Bankers Association said on Wednesday, in another sign that housing will likely recover slowly from its three-year plunge.

Home loan applications fell a seasonally adjusted 2.8 percent in the September 25 week, driven down by a 6.2 percent drop in demand for purchase loans and a 0.8 percent decline in refinancing requests.

Borrowing costs inched closer to record lows, with average 30-year rates dipping 0.03 percentage point to 4.94 percent.