US mortgage applications declined 0.4% in the second week of August, trimming the two-month-high increase recorded in the previous period, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The benchmark mortgage rate remained at 6.77%, four basis points below the one-year high reached in the last week of July, while long-term Treasury yields stayed near a nearly two-decade high. Refinancing applications, which are more sensitive to short-term interest-rate changes, increased 1.5% from the prior week, while applications to purchase homes fell 2%.