The number of mortgage applications filed last week declined compared to the week before in two national surveys. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) weekly mortgage applications survey, which is a measure of total gross applications in the US, declined 2.8% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending Sept. 25. The refinance index also decreased 0.8% and the purchase index decreased 6.2%. Refinance applications took a 65.3% share of total applications, up from 63.8 in the previous week, the MBA reported. The Mortgage Maxx weekly survey, which adjusts total application to account for multiple submissions by the same borrower, declined 7.3% in the week ending Sept. 25. The decline comes as refinancings and existing home sales retreat, despite favorable mortgage rates, publisher Paul Descloux said in weekly commentary. Write to Austin Kilgore.