According to The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Weekly Applications Survey, demand for loans to purchase homes reached its highest level since January 13 after rising 4.4 percent last week. It is the third consecutive week of improvements and puts purchase applications nearly 12 percent above where they were last month. Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said the increase in purchase applications coincided with another strong job market report but applications remain essentially unchanged from last year’s levels. The Market Composite Index, which measures total mortgage loan application volume, was down 2.4 percent due to a dip in the Refinance Index. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances was unchanged from last week. More here.