Refinancing Fuels Mortgage Application Surge

Washington, DC, May 7, 2008–Mortgage applications filed last week rose 15.6 percent compared with the previous week due to increased refinancing activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Filings in the week ended May 2 were down 4.4 percent compared with the same week in 2007.

Refinancing applications rose 19.3 percent on a week-to-week basis, while applications for mortgages to buy homes were up a seasonally adjusted 12.1 percent.

The four-week moving average for all mortgages was down 2.6 percent.

Refinancings made up 47.1 percent of total application filings last week, up from 45.7 percent the previous week.

Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 6.8 percent of applications, up from 5.9 percent
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Interest rates on all mortgages tracked by the survey fell last week, with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 5.91 percent, down from the prior week’s 6.01 percent
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The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.49 percent, down from 5.53 percent, while the average on one-year ARMs fell to 6.77 percent from 6.86 percent.