Any historical assumptions the mortgage industry has about refinance activity may have to be revised because the allegedly cyclical refi market continues to account for nearly half of loan production in 2006. Throughout some fairly large swings in interest rates over the past five years, refinance loans have seldom dropped much below 50 percent of new loan originations. In the first quarter of this year, refinance volume accounted for 49.0 percent of new lending, down… [One data table included]