Mortgage applications in America fell last week to the lowest level since April, reflecting fewer home purchases and less refinancing, a private group’s survey showed yesterday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of applications declined 7.9% to 679.1, the fourth decline in the last five weeks, from 737.5. The Washington based group’s measure of home purchases dropped 7.4%, the biggest decline since June, and mortgage refinancing fell 8.5%.

The average rate on a 30-year mortgage held above 6% for a second straight week. Higher borrowing costs are forecast to slow housing in 2006 after a record this year, according to the National Association of Realtors.

“Home buying has stabilized in the last three months, as interest rates have moved up,” the chief American economist atIDEAglobal.com, Wesley Beal, said. “Most of the people who could have benefited from refinancing have already done so, so that has slowed to a trickle.”

The average 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 6.06% from 6.09%, its first decline since the week ended September 9, according to the mortgage bankers group. The rate compares with 5.54% a year ago and a four-decade low of 4.99%, reached in June 2003.

The purchase index fell to 466.4 last week from 503.9, while the refinance index decreased to 1916.8 from 2095.7 in the prior week. Refinancing accounted for 42.5% of all mortgage applications, compared with 42.8% the prior week and 45.6% a year ago.

Adjustable-rate mortgages claimed a larger share last week, rising to 29.5% from 29.3%. Interest-only loans, which generally carry adjustable rates, grew to 23% of new mortgages in the first half of the year from 17% a year ago, as home buyers seek new ways to make home purchases affordable, according to a separate report by the bankers group yesterday.

“Borrowers taking interest-only mortgages will decrease their payment by 20% versus a fixed-rate mortgage,” the president of the Americana Mortgage Group, Bob Moulton, said.

The average 15-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 5.57% from 5.62%, the mortgage bankers said. The average one-year adjustable mortgage rate increased to 5.37%, the highest since December 2001.

At the current 30-year fixed rate of 6.06%, borrowing costs for each $100,000 of a loan would be $603.41 a month. That compares with $536.21 when the rate fell to a four-decade low of 4.99% in June 2003.