Mortgage applications rising

As this chart of new applications for mortgages (seasonally adjusted) shows, demand for mortgages keeps rising. They are now up 27% from their July low. As the Mortgage Bankers' Assoc. puts it, this index is "a reliable indicator of impending home sales." In retrospect, there was an obvious slump in the housing market in the May-July period, but it now appears to be reversing, albeit slowly.