US mortgage applications up

Mortgage applications increased in the week ending Oct. 5, according to a weekly index compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group representing the real estate finance industry.

The latest reading for the weekly index was 652.0, an increase of 2.4 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier, the association said.

On an unadjusted basis, the index was up 8.6 percent compared with the same week one year earlier, the group said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)