With mortgage rates elevated, more borrowers are turning to adjustable-rate loans for relief.

Adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, made up about 10 percent of all mortgage applications in September — the highest share in nearly two years and well above the post-2008 average of 6 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

ARMs, also known as variable-rate mortgages, usually start with lower borrowing costs than fixed-rate mortgages but can increase over time. That step-up in payments is what got many homeowners in trouble two decades ago, when ARMs peaked at 35 percent of all mortgage applications in 2005.

We're a long way from that level today — and there are several reasons it's a "vastly different environment" now, according to the MBA.

"Most ARM loans now have fixe

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