According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, demand for loans to buy homes rose another 6 percent last week and is now just 1.5 percent below where it was during the same week one year ago. That represents a dramatic turnaround from where it was six weeks ago, when it was down 35 percent year-over-year. Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says the rebound is an encouraging sign for the housing market. “Applications for home purchases continue to recover from April’s sizeable drop and have now increased for five consecutive weeks,” Kan said. “Government purchase applications, which include FHA, VA, and USDA loans, are now 5 percent higher than a year ago, which is an encouraging turnaround after the weakness seen over the past two months.” Also in the report, average mortgage rates were mostly down from the week before, with declines seen for 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances and 15-year fixed-rate loans. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications.
