According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, demand for loans to buy homes rose 8 percent last week from the week before. The improvement helped push total application demand nearly 4 percent higher week-over-week. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says the gains extend a recent trend. “Mortgage rates increased slightly last week but, there continues to be an upward trend in purchase activity,” Kan said. “Conventional and FHA purchase applications drove most of the increase last week as some buyers moved to act early this season.” Average mortgage rates were fairly steady last week, though up from the week before. Increases were seen for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, 15-year fixed-rate loans, and 5/1 ARMs. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)
