Mortgage rate drop produces refinancing wave

Refinancing applications are up 83 percent from this year's low in February, according to an index compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade group. After topping 5 percent that month, the average rate on 30-year fixed loans fell two weeks ago to 4.15 percent, the lowest in surveys dating back to 1971...

Compounding the delays are stricter underwriting and disclosure requirements implemented in the past few years, which leave no room for shortcuts, said Stew Larsen, head of the mortgage unit at San Francisco's Bank of the West. Wells Fargo is no longer hiring temporary staff and outsourcing firms when applications jump because of separate rule changes, according to Franklin Codel, head of national consumer lending at its mortgage unit