Lower Rates Spur Increased Mortgage Refinancing

Washington, DC, July 15, 2009--Lower mortgage rates last week led to a 17.7% rise in applications filed to refinance existing home loans, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported on Wednesday.

For the week ended July 10, the volume of applications for mortgages to purchase homes was down a seasonally adjusted 9.4% from the week before, the MBA's latest survey showed.

Total application volume increased a seasonally adjusted 4.3% compared with the week before, according to the survey, which covers about one half of U.S. retail residential mortgage applications. The four-week moving average for filings was unchanged, the Washington-based MBA said.

Application volume for last week was down an unadjusted 2.7% compared with the same week in 2008.

Overall filing activity had risen 10.9% on a week-to-week basis in the week ended July 3.

Refinance applications accounted for 54.9% of all filings last week, up from 48.4% the week before.

According to the survey, interest rates charged on 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.05% last week, down from 5.34% the week before.

Meanwhile, 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, a popular option for refinancing home loans, averaged 4.59%, down from 4.83% the week before.