Mortgage Application Volume Falls

Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2009--Even as interest rates charged on fixed-rate mortgages dropped last week, the volume of mortgage applications filed fell 24.5% compared with the week before, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

Both refinancing filings and applications for mortgages to buy homes fell on a week-to-week basis, the weekly survey showed.

The four-week moving average for all mortgages was down a seasonally adjusted 20.0%.

Overall, application volume for the week ended Feb. 6 contracted by an unadjusted 43.9% from the same week in 2008, the MBA said.

Applications to refinance existing mortgages fell 30.3% last week compared with the prior week.

Meanwhile, applications for home-purchase mortgages also dropped, down a seasonally adjusted 9.8% -- pushing the MBA's purchase index to its lowest level since the end of 2000.

Refinancings made up 66.7% of applications filed last week, down from 73.2% the week before, while adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 2.5%, up from 2.1%.

The rate charged on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.19% last week, down from 5.28% the week before. The average on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages sank to 5.00%, down from 5.15%.

One-year ARMs, however, averaged 6.22% in the latest week, up from 6.09% in the week ended Jan. 30.