Refinancing Fuels Mortgage Application Surge

Washington, DC, May 7, 2008--Mortgage applications filed last week rose 15.6 percent compared with the previous week due to increased refinancing activity, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Filings in the week ended May 2 were down 4.4 percent compared with the same week in 2007.

Refinancing applications rose 19.3 percent on a week-to-week basis, while applications for mortgages to buy homes were up a seasonally adjusted 12.1 percent.

The four-week moving average for all mortgages was down 2.6 percent.

Refinancings made up 47.1 percent of total application filings last week, up from 45.7 percent the previous week.

Adjustable-rate mortgages accounted for 6.8 percent of applications, up from 5.9 percent
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Interest rates on all mortgages tracked by the survey fell last week, with 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 5.91 percent, down from the prior week's 6.01 percent
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The rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.49 percent, down from 5.53 percent, while the average on one-year ARMs fell to 6.77 percent from 6.86 percent.