Mortgage Application Volume Surges on Refinancing

Washington, DC, Feb. 18, 2009--Mortgage application volume last week rose a seasonally adjusted 45.7% compared with the week before due to a surge in refinancings as interest rates fell, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

Applications to refinance existing loans jumped 64.3% on a week-to-week basis, according to the MBA's weekly survey.

Applications for mortgages to purchase homes for the week ended Feb. 13 also rose, up a seasonally adjusted 9.1% from the prior week.

The four-week moving average for all mortgage filings dropped a seasonally adjusted 9.6%.

In total, application volume rose 5.2% from the same week a year ago.

Refinancings made up 74.2% of all mortgage applications last week, up from 66.7% the week before.

Interest rates on mortgages fell across the board last week.

The rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.99%, down from 5.19% the previous week. The average on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.66%, down from 5.00%.