According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, average mortgage rates fell again last week. Rates were down from the week before for 30-year fixed-rate loans with conforming balances and loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration. It was the eighth-straight week of declines. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says demand for loan applications jumped to a two-year high as a result. “Mortgage applications increased to their highest level since July 2022, boosted by a 20 percent increase in refinance applications after a large increase the prior week,” Kan said. Refinance activity is now 175 percent higher than it was at the same time last year. Purchase demand, on the other hand, is just 2 percent higher year-over-year, after a 1 percent increase last week. The MBA’s survey has been conducted weekly since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. (source)