U.S. mortgage applications up

Refinance applications lifted a weekly survey that tracks mortgage application activity.

The survey is compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents the real estate finance industry.

For the week ending Oct. 26, the survey's market composite index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 681.7, an increase of 3.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from the previous week, the association said, and on an unadjusted basis, the index was up 19.5 percent compared with the same week one year earlier.

The survey's refinance index increased 9.2 percent to 2249.0, the association said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)