According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell last week from the week before. Rates were down across all loan categories, including 30-year fixed-rate loans with both conforming and jumbo balances, loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, and 15-year fixed-rate loans. The decline helped push overall demand upward, with refinance activity seeing an 8 percent improvement week-over-week. Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says favorable rates are also keeping purchase demand strong. “Continuing the trend seen in recent months, the purchase market is growing at a strong clip, with activity last week up 21 percent from a year ago,” Kan said. “The average loan size increased again to a new record at $371,500, as activity in the higher loan size categories continues to lead growth.” Average loan size has been growing recently, mostly due to inventory and affordability issues in lower-price tiers. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)