The volume of mortgage applications in the US fell by 1% in the third week of August, extending the soft 0.4% drop in the earlier period, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The slight change was aligned with a muted bps increase in the average benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate relatively close to the highest level in one year, as soaring levels of corporate debt, widening deficit spending by the federal government, and concerns of a complacent Federal Reserve drove yields on the 30-year bond to a multi-decade high. Applications to refinance a mortgage, which are more sensitive to short-term changes in interest rates, fell 2%.