Mortgage application volume posted a sharp drop last week as long-term interest rates gained considerably, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported today.

The group’s market composite index, a measure of home loan application volume, fell 22.6 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis from the first week of the month. Leading the decline was a 27.9 percent drop in the index that tracks refinance applications, followed by an 11.5 percent decrease in the purchase-loan index.

The rate of single-family housing starts and building permits issued dropped to the lowest level in 17 years in January, the U.S. Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today.

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of single-family housing starts and building permits issued fell for the 10th consecutive month in January, according to the report. The rate of single-family housing starts was 743,000 in January, the lowest since 604,000 in January 1991. And the rate of single-family building permits was 673,000 in January, the lowest level since 587,000 in January 1991.