According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, demand for home purchase loans is now 10 percent higher than the same week one year ago. The improvement comes after a 1 percent increase week-over-week. Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says purchase applications have been gradually increasing since the beginning of the year. “Purchase applications picked up slightly last week, as conventional and government activity were each up around 1 percent. Furthermore, in continuation of the gradual growth trend seen throughout the first half of 2019, purchase activity was almost 10 percent higher than a year ago,” Kan said. “A still-strong job market, improving affordability, and lower mortgage rates continue to support growth.” Also in the report, average mortgage rates were mostly flat last week, showing little change across all loan categories. The 30-year fixed-rate was up slightly but remains just above lows last seen in 2016. The MBA’s weekly survey has been conducted since 1990 and covers 75 percent of all retail residential mortgage applications. More here.