The Mortgage Bankers Association announced this morning that, for the week ending September 22, its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey showed that mortgage loan application volume decreased 4.9 percent from one week earlier.

The Purchase Index decreased by 5.5 percent from the previous week and the Refinance Index decreased by 4.1 percent from one week earlier.

"Although overall mortgage activity was lighter last week, the good news is long-term interest rates have plummeted, which is creating something of a mini refinance boom among those homeowners carrying a 6.5% or higher interest rate on their mortgage or who have an adjustable rate mortgage that is close to resetting," says Bob Walters, chief economist of Quicken Loans, the nation's largest online lender. "Quicken Loans is beginning to see a significant spike in the trend of homeowners in these situations taking a fixed-rate mortgage as they refinance out of their current program. The rate drop is also good news for both home buyers and the housing market, as it is makes housing more affordable." In calendar year 2005, Quicken Loans closed $16 billion in volume through its Web site QuickenLoans.com.