Mortgage Refinancing Rush Continues Into New Year

Homeowners continue to scramble for refinancing in order to lock in currently low interest rates, MarketWatch reports, with applications jumping 25.6% last week, to the highest level since June 2003. The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 0.10% for the week ending Jan. 9, to 4.89%—the lowest rate since the Mortgage Bankers Association began keeping statistics in 1990. (More mortgage stories.)