Applications for US home mortgages rose last week as interest rates edged lower, an industry group said on Wednesday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, gained 4.9 percent in the week ended Nov. 14.

The MBA's seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications rose 0.9 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, rose 11.7 percent to the highest level since July 2014.

Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.18 percent in the week, down 1 basis point from 4.19 percent the week before.

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