Mortgage rates are finally falling, and just saw their biggest weekly drop in the past year. The average interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the past week was 6.35%, according to Freddie Mac, down from 6.5% a week earlier.

That’s the lowest average since last October. Rates have been above 6.5% for most of the last year, climbing above 7% in January.

“Mortgage rates are headed in the right direction and homebuyers have noticed, as purchase applications reached the highest year-over-year growth rate in more than four years,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.

As rates dropped, borrower demand surged. Applications to buy a home and to refinance were both up on a weekly and annual basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Refinances made up nearly half of those applications, as those who bought homes at higher rates jumped at the chance to lower their monthly mortgage payments. Purchase applications, meanwhile, rose to their highest level since July.

Why are rates dropping now? 

The Treasury yields that affect mortgage rates moved lower with the data that the labor market is weakening. The jobs report last week showed that U.S. employers added just 22,000 jobs in August, and a revised report on Tuesday showed that hiring for the last 12 months ending in March was much lower than initially tallied.

The Federal Reserve is expected to cut the fed funds rate at its meeting next week, despite fresh data showing that inflation inched higher last month — with prices on consumer goods up 2.9% from a year ago. But a rate cut may not mean a drop in mortgage rates, as the expectation of a cut is already likely priced into current rates.

The boy who shot two schoolmates and himself at Evergreen High School was identified Thursday as 16-year-old Desmond Holly.

Desmond lived with his family in a sprawling mountain home tucked away on a private lane near Kittridge, property records show. His parents did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday.

Investigators believe Holly shot two of his classmates at the Jefferson County high school on Wednesday before shooting himself, according to the sheriff’s office. He later died from his injuries at the CommonSpirit St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood.

One victim remains in critical condition at St. Anthony Hospital, Dr. Brian Blackwood said in a Thursday morning news briefing. A second victim was transferred to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora, where that student remains in critical condition, hospital officials said.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers responded Wednesday to Evergreen High School at 29300 Buffalo Park Road, after a 911 caller reported an active school shooting at 12:24 p.m., Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Jacki Kelley said.

The first sheriff’s deputies were on the scene in minutes, Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli said.

Sheriff’s officials are still investigating the events leading up to the shooting and where in the school the shooting took place.

It’s unknown what law enforcement found inside the home.

Kelley said Wednesday that investigators would also examine the suspect’s locker, car and social media.

Evergreen High School will be closed the rest of the week, Jefferson County Public Schools announced. Another eight schools in the Conifer and Evergreen areas were also closed Thursday.

A resource and information center will operate for two days out of Bergen Meadow Elementary’s old building at 1928 S. Hiwan Drive, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. That building was the reunification point for families and Evergreen students on Wednesday.