Lower mortgage rates led to record S&L; loans.

California savings institutions made a record $38.1 billion in loans during the first half of this year, an increase of 41.6% from the first six months of 1985, a trade group said. The big increase was attributed by the California League of Savings Institutions to declining interest rates that sparked a feverish rush to refinance home mortgages. Loan volume was $26.9 billion in the first half of last year.