As refinancing boom fades to echo, shakeout looms. (Mutual Funds: What If Investors Take Flight?)

Though reports of its death might be a bit premature, some mortgage industry experts say the refinancing boom is over and a shakeout in the industry has already begun.

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"It's not dead yet, but it's definitely slowed considerably," said Paul Havermann, a spokesman with HSH Associates, a financial publishing firm in Butler, NJ. "Lots of lenders are sitting around twiddling their thumbs. They're looking for other things to do, which means beating the bushes for new buyers."

Though industry experts seem divided on whether or not the long-awaited end to the refinance boom is really here, there is agreement that activity will slow considerably this year forcing mortgage lenders to look to new homebuyers as a way to make up for the …