Mortgage Bankers Association reports new requests for home loans climbed 1.8 percent last week on lower rates.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Applications for U.S. home mortgages edged higher last week as lower loan rates helped encourage more home purchases for the first time since early August, an industry group said Wednesday.

The seasonally-adjusted index of total mortgage applications, including refinancings, rose 1.8 percent in the week ended Sept. 1 to 566.3, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The index is at its highest since early July, but is well below the year-ago level of 771.6, the association said in a statement.

The improvement coincides with a drop in the rate on standard 30-year mortgages that finance about three-quarters of all U.S. homes.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.31 percent last week, down 0.08 point since Aug. 25 and off 0.5 point since early July, the MBA said.

The component index of home purchases increased 3.7 percent to 389.7, while the gauge of refinancing declined 0.9 percent to 1,594.7, the MBA said.