Mortgage applications and rates steady

US mortgage activity slipped in the week ending Friday, a correction in part due to the previous week\'s hurricane-related spike in the data. The volume of mortgage applications declined 0.9 percent, while refinancing activity for the current week dropped 2 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday. In the week that ended Friday, interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate conforming mortgages fell from 3.54 percent to 3.53 percent with points unchanged at 0.4. The average interest rate for 30-year contracts on jumbo loans -- those larger than $417,500 -- fell from 3.76 percent to 3.75 percent with points also falling from 0.4 to 0.31. Interest rates for 15-year, fixed-rate mortgages held at 2.89 percent with points rising from 0.25 to 0.35. The average rate for 30-year loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration was unchanged at 3.36 percent with points rising from 0.63 to 0.65. Average rate for short-term, adjustable-rate mortgages fell from from 2.62 percent to 2.6 percent in the week with points steady at 0.37, the MBA said.