The number of applications for purchase and refinance mortgages nation-wide jumped last week while growth in the number of loans in forbearance continued to slow according to a pair of new surveys from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Numbers of purchase mortgages were up 21 percent year-over-year on a seasonally unadjusted basis for the week ending June 12, and up 2 percent week-over-week. Refinance mortgages were up 10 percent over the same period compared to the week before, a 106 percent jump from the year before as interest rates dropped to another historic low. Refinances made up 63.2 percent of total applications, up from 61.3 percent the previous week.

“Purchase applications increased to the highest level in over 11 years and for the ninth consecutive week. The housing market continues to experience the release of unrealized pent-up demand from earlier this spring, as well as a gradual improvement in consumer confidence,” MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan said in a statement. “Mortgage rates dropped to another record low in MBA’s survey, leading to a 10 percent surge in refinance applications. Refinancing continues to support households’ finances, as homeowners who refinance are able to gain savings on their monthly mortgage payments in a still-uncertain period of the economic recovery.”

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($510,400 or less) decreased to 3.30 percent from 3.38 percent, the lowest level in survey history, with points decreasing to 0.29 from 0.30 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LTV) loans. The effective rate decreased from last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $510,400) decreased to 3.67 percent from 3.70 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

The FHA share of total applications decreased to 11.0 percent from 11.5 percent the week prior. The VA share of total applications decreased to 11.5 percent from 12.3 percent the week prior. The USDA share of total applications increased to 0.7 percent from 0.6 percent the week prior.  The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA decreased to 3.33 percent from 3.38 percent, with points decreasing to 0.23 from 0.24 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week. The average contract interest rate for 15-year fixed-rate mortgages decreased to 2.80 percent from 2.83 percent, with points increasing to 0.28 from 0.26 (including the origination fee) for 80 percent LTV loans. The effective rate decreased from last week.

At the same time, the share of mortgages in loan servicers’ portfolios now in forbearance increased from 8.53 percent to 8.55 percent for the week ending June 7, the MBA found. According to MBA’s estimate, almost 4.3 million homeowners are now in forbearance plans.

“MBA’s survey results from the first week of June showed a slight uptick in the overall share of loans in forbearance, but this increase was primarily driven by a larger share of portfolio and PLS loans in forbearance. Half of the servicers in our sample saw the forbearance share decline for at least one investor category,” MBA Senior Vice President and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni said in a statement. “Although there continues to be layoffs, the job market does appear to be improving, and this is likely leading to many borrowers in forbearance deciding to opt out of their plan. With June mortgage payments due, servicers did report the first increase in forbearance requests in two months. The level of forbearance requests is still quite low, but there was a noticeable increase in call volume over the course of the week.”