U.S. applications for home mortgages jumped last week, in a sixth straight weekly increase, suggesting the housing market could lead the economy’s recovery from the novel coronavirus crisis even as high unemployment is expected to linger, Reuters reported. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said today that its seasonally adjusted Purchase Index increased 8.6 percent from a week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the index rose 7.4 percent from the prior week and was 9 percent higher compared to the same week a year ago. It was the sixth consecutive weekly gain and a 54 percent surge since early April.
