Mortgage demand took another dive last week, despite moderating mortgage interest rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Wednesday report. It marked the third consecutive week in the trade group’s regular study that requests for home loans have slipped.

For the week ending October 23, MBA said total mortgage application volume fell 12.3 percent, after dropping 13.7 percent one week earlier. Based on MBA’s survey, mortgage activity is now at its lowest level in nearly two months.

Borrower requests for refinancing decreased 16.2 percent last week. Applications for home purchases were down 5.2 percent.

The dip in mortgage activity in recent weeks has coincided with rising interest rates, but MBA says last week the decline occurred even though rates held relatively steady.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 5.04 percent last week, down from 5.07 percent the week prior.

For 15-year fixed-rate mortgages the average rate increased on slightly, up from 4.51 percent the week prior to 4.53 percent last week.