MBA Chart of the Week: Builder Application Survey–Average Loan Size

In September, the average loan size of applications in the MBA Builder Application Survey grew to a survey high of nearly $325,000.   

The dotted line shows a simple linear trend in average loan size. The BAS tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country. Compared with the MBA Weekly Application Survey, the average loan sizes for new builder applications were generally larger than the corresponding averages from Weekly Application Survey purchase applications, which are based on both existing and new home purchases.  

In examining the data, we have found that the increase in loan size is not driven by the geographic composition of applications. The estimated rate of increase in loan sizes in the BAS is about 6.25 percent per year over the past three years, slightly higher than the 6 percent rate of appreciation in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Purchas-Only House Price Index (estimated through August).  

The next release of BAS results will be this Thursday, Nov. 12.  

To view the Chart of the Week, click https://www.mba.org/news-research-and-resources/forecasts-data-and-reports/forecasts-and-commentary/chart-of-the-week.  

(Lynn Fisher is vice president of research and economics with the Mortgage Bankers Association; she can be reached at lfisher@mba.org. Joel Kan associate vice president of economic forecasting with MBA; he can be reached at jkan@mortgagebankers.org. Anh Doan is senior financial analyst with MBA; she can be reached at adoan@mortgagebankers.org.)