According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, demand for loans to buy homes was up 3 percent last week from the week before. The improvement puts the MBA’s Purchase Index 26 percent above where it was during the same week one year ago. Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says demand for purchase loans has been rising. “Purchase applications were strong over the week driven both by households seeking more living space and younger households looking to enter homeownership,” Kan said. “The purchase index increased for the fourth consecutive week and was up 26 percent from last year’s pace. The average purchase loan balance increased again, both by quickening home-price growth and a rise in higher-balance conventional applications.” Also in the report, average mortgage rates were up across all loan categories. The rate increase caused a drop in refinance demand, which was down 5 percent. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)
