Highlights
The purchase application index fell 8.4 percent in the Jan. 19 week to 402.7, a setback but balanced by stronger readings in prior weeks. Still, January's numbers don't look any better than December's though both months show an improvement from November. Existing and new home sales data for December will be released later this week.

Loan rates have been inching higher with 30-year fixed mortgages now averaging 6.22 percent. Higher rates are cutting into refinancing applications, which made up 47.8 percent of all applications, down 2.1 percentage points in the week. The refinancing index was down 9.6 percent to 1,848.8.