Mortgage Applications Fall on Less Refinancing

Washington, DC, Jan. 28, 2009--Applications filed for mortgages last week fell a seasonally adjusted 38.8% compared with the prior week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Wednesday in its weekly survey.

Interest rates charged on fixed-rate mortgages declined slightly over the week.

Application volume was down 40.4% compared with the same week last year. according to the Washington-based MBA's weekly survey.

Refinancing applications sank 48% for the week ended Jan. 23, compared with the previous week.

Filings for mortgages to purchase homes were down a seasonally adjusted 2.9% compared with the Jan. 16 week.

The four-week moving average for all mortgages was down 10.5%.

Refinancings accounted for 72.8% of all applications, down from 83.3% the previous week. Adjustable-rate mortgage applications made up 2.4%, up from 1.5%.

According to the survey, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.22% last week, down from 5.24% the week before.

Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.98%, down from 4.99%, while one-year ARMs averaged 5.96%, up from 5.89%. End of Story