Borrowers and lenders stayed away from riskier loans in the final months of last year — opting for safer fixed-rate products, according to a new study out of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Applications for adjustable-rate mortgages slid 39.6 percent from January 2007 to the same time this year, according to the report by Susan Wachter, a real estate and finance professor. Meanwhile, fixed-rate loan applications jumped 60.1 percent.

The study also shows that borrowers who put down less than 20 percent are opting to get private mortgage insurance, or PMI, instead of piggyback loans. the number of people getting PMI rose 41 percent in the first nine months of 2007.

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