Loan applications for mortgages decreased last week as average rates for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage ticked upwards, a weekly report said Wednesday.

Loan applications decreased 14.2% in the week ending May 22, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, who have been conducting the survey since 1990. 

Over the past four weeks,the index tracking loan applications has fallen by an average of 4.7%, even as the four week moving average for purchases has edged up an 0.5%. 

The decline was led by an 18.9% drop in refinance activity, which accounted for 69.3% of all mortgages in the week, compared to 73.6% in the week before.  Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 2.6% of new applications, compared to 2.4% in the prior week.  

The average contract rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from 4.69% in the prior week to 4.81%, just above the 4.80% rate that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner called “historically low.”

The weekly survey covers around half of all mortgage activity across the nation.