Mortgage apps up 45 percent

Mortgage loan application volume increased 45.7 percent from one week earlier and is up 5.2 percent compared with the same week in 2008, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. According to MBA's study, covering approximately 50 percent of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) decreased to 4.99 percent from 5.19 percent, for 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio loans.