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Requests To Refinance Mortgages Multiply

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The Associated Press

Published: December 4, 2008

WASHINGTON - Mortgage application volume more than doubled during the shortened Thanksgiving week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly application survey.

The trade group's application index surged to 857.7 in the week ended Nov. 28, up from 404.4 a week earlier.

The heightened activity in a holiday-shortened week came as average rates on some fixed-rate mortgages tumbled more than half a percentage point.

Refinance volume more than tripled, while purchase volume increased 38 percent during the week. Refinance volume accounted for 69.1 percent of all applications, up from 49.3 percent the previous week.

The index peaked at 1,856.7 during the week ended May 30, 2003, at the height of the housing boom.

An index value of 100 is equal to the application volume on March 16, 1990, the first week the MBA tracked application volume. Last week's 857.7 reading means mortgage application activity was 8.577 times higher than it was when the MBA began tracking the data.

The survey provides a snapshot of mortgage activity involving mortgage bankers, commercial banks and thrifts. It covers about 50 percent of all residential retail mortgage originations each week.

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