MBA: Apps for New Homes Down 3% in November; Up 12% from Year Ago
November new home purchase mortgage applications increased by 12 percent year over year despite a 3 percent decrease from October, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.
By product type, conventional loans composed 67.3 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.3 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.7 percent and VA loans composed 13.8 percent. The average loan size of new homes decreased from $329,634 in October to $329,389 in November.
MBA Builder Applications Survey data do not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.
“Mortgage applications for new homes continued to grow on a year over year basis in November, driven by continued improvement in the overall economy and job growth,” said MBA Vice President of Research and Economics Lynn Fisher. “Despite the fact that overall home prices have increased at a greater than 5 percent annualized rate, the growth in average loan size for new homes has slowed.”
MBA estimated new single-family home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 588,000 units in November, a 7.5 percent increase from October (547,000 units). On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimated 41,000 new home sales in November, a decrease of 6.8 percent from 44,000 new home sales in October. The new home sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors.
The MBA Builder Application Survey tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country. Using these data, as well as data from other sources, MBA provides an early estimate of new home sales volumes at the national, state and metro level. These data also provide information regarding types of loans used by new home buyers. Official new home sales estimates are conducted by the Census Bureau on a monthly basis. In those data, new home sales are recorded at contract signing, which is typically coincident with the mortgage application.
For additional information on MBA’s Builder Applications Survey, click https://www.mba.org/news-research-and-resources/forecasts-data-and-reports/single-family-research/servicing-operations-study-and-forum-for-prime-and-specialty-servicers-x75411.
