Mortgage demand, which has suffered four straight months of declines, fell last week to the lowest level since 1997, as interest rates continued to rise.

According to the Mortgage bankers Association, the mortgage demand by homebuyers dropped by 4% this week. This was 38% more than the same week a year ago. In seasonally adjusted terms, applications to refinance a mortgage fell by 7% over the week before. Demand was 86% lower than the same week one year ago.

Refinancing has a record number. In fact, interest rates were so low during two years of the Covid epidemic that the majority of borrowers with higher rates have refinanced.