The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) increased to 3.23% from 3.18% for loans with a 20% down payment.

Climbing mortgage interest rates caused another drop in mortgage demand for both refinances and home purchases. Total application volume fell 6.3% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($548,250 or less) increased to 3.23% from 3.18%, with points decreasing to 0.35 from 0.37 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That rate was 21 basis points lower the same week one year ago.

The 30-year fixed rate has risen 20 basis points over the past month and is now at the highest level since April.

Applications to refinance a home loan, which are most sensitive to weekly rate changes, decreased 7% for the week and were 22% lower year over year. The refinance share of mortgage activity fell to 63.3% of total applications from 63.9% the previous week.