Mortgage Application Volume Falls on Higher Rates

Washington, DC, Jan. 22, 2009--Mortgage application volume last week dropped a seasonally adjusted 9.8% compared with the week before, as interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages rose, reversing their recent trend, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.

Applications for the week ended Jan. 16 ran 23.1% higher on an unadjusted basis compared with the same week in 2008, according to the Washington-based MBA's weekly survey.

Mortgage applications filed to purchase a home rose a seasonally adjusted 2.5% on a week-to-week basis, but the volume of filings to refinance existing mortgages declined 12.4%.

Refinancing applications made up 83.3% of all filings last week, down from 85.3% the previous week. Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 1.5%, up from 1.1%.

The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages was 5.24%, up from 4.89% the previous week. Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.99%, up from 4.63%.