Offices of the Mortgage Bankers Association will be closed this Thursday, Nov. 24 and Friday, Nov. 25 in observance of the Thanksgiving holidays. MBA NewsLink will not publish either day.

Here's a summary of Top National News Items from major news sites and industry trade publications. To read more, click on the headline:

“The decrease in mortgage rates should improve the purchasing power of prospective homebuyers, who have been largely sidelined as mortgage rates have more than doubled in the past year. As a result of the drop in mortgage rates, both purchase and refinance applications picked up slightly last week. However, refinance activity is still more than 80 percent below last year’s pace.” --Joel Kan, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist.

Homebuyer affordability continued its downward trajectory in October, as the national median payment applied for by applicants increased 3.7 percent to $2,012 from $1,941 in September, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's Purchase Applications Payment Index.