Applications for FHA mortgages soared to a record.

Citing the lowest interest rates in eight years, the Federal Housing Administration reported that there were 1.95 million applications for federally insured home mortgages in fiscal 1986. The total for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 is nearly twice the previous record of 1.1 million applications received by the FHA in 1971, said Silvio DeBartolomeis, deputy assistant housing secretary. The wave of applications began when mortgage interest rates dropped below 10% for the first time since 1978.