Mortgage Refinancing Continues To Rise

Washington, DC, Feb. 4, 2009--The volume of applications to refinance mortgages increased 15.8% last week compared with the week before, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday.

Applications for mortgages to purchase homes fell down a seasonally adjusted 11.2% for the week ended Jan. 30 as opposed to the previous week, according to the survey.

The combined volume of home-purchase and refinance applications rose a seasonally adjusted 8.6% on a week-to-week basis. The four-week moving average for all mortgages was down 9.2%.

Refinancings made up 73.2% of the total applications filed last week, up from 72.8% the week before. Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 2.1% of applications, down from 2.4%.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.28%, up from 5.22% the previous week, while the average on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages increased to 5.15% from 4.98%. The rates on fixed-rate mortgages had been little changed last week, following a dramatic move lower recently. See related story.
Meanwhile, one-year ARMs averaged 6.09% last week, up from the prior week's 5.96%, t