KEY POINTS

Mortgage application volume was down 13.2% at the end of last week from two weeks earlier.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 6.58% from 6.34% two weeks prior.

At the end of 2021, the rate was 3.33%.

After a brief reprieve in the first half of December, mortgage interest rates shot up again to end the year, weighing on mortgage demand.

Mortgage application volume was down 13.2% at the end of last week from two weeks earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally adjusted index. The MBA was closed last week due to the holidays.