Mortgage applications decreased 0.2 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending April 20, 2018.

The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, decreased 0.2 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, the MBA said.

The refinance share of mortgage activity decreased to 37.2 percent of total applications, the lowest level since September 2008, from 37.6 percent the previous week.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($453,100 or less) increased to its highest level since September 2013, 4.73 percent, from 4.66 percent.

The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to its highest level since April 2011, 4.13 percent, from 4.08 percent.

"Treasury rates increased significantly last week, partly driven by the market's reaction to more hawkish comments from key Fed officials and positive economic news on strong retail sales and declining jobless claims," Joel Kan, an MBA economist, told CNBC.com.

"Applications for government purchase applications, loans more likely to be used by first-time buyers, declined for the week," Kan noted.

(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).

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