Applications for U.S. home mortgages were little changed last week as purchase demand improved but refinancing activity stagnated, an industry group said Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, edged up 0.2 percent in the week ended Oct 28.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted gauge of loan requests for home purchases rose 1.8 percent, while the index of refinancing applications was off 0.2 percent.

The refinance share of total mortgage activity dipped to 77.1 percent of applications from 77.3 percent the week before, the fourth straight week of declines.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.31 percent, down 2 basis points from 4.33 percent.

The survey covers over 75 percent of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, according to MBA.