Home sales are running at their strongest pace in over a decade."

WASHINGTON–Mortgage applications in the U.S. continue to surge, with the number of applications filed up 9% last week over the prior week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's seasonally and holiday adjusted index.
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Purchase applications were a whopping 28% higher from a year ago, the MBA said.

"Purchase activity continued to show impressive year-over-year gains, with both the conventional and government segments of the market posting another week of growth," said Joel Kan, MBA's associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, in a statement. "Housing demand remains strong, and despite extremely tight inventory and rising prices, home sales are running at their strongest pace in over a decade."

According to the MBA, home prices also continue to appreciate rapidly, with the average purchase loan amount hitting $375,000 last week, the largest since the inception of MBA's survey in 1990. Record low rates are allowing homeowners to spend more.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) was unchanged at 2.92% last week, a record low, with points decreasing to 0.31 from 0.35 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That rate was 105 basis points higher a year ago, the MBA said.

Applications to refinance a home loan fell 5% for the week, but were up a robust 102% from one year ago.