Mortgage applications increased 3.8 percent from one week earlier, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending December 6, 2019.

The Senate Banking Committee yesterday approved Brian Montgomery’s nomination as HUD Deputy Secretary by a 20-5 vote.

On average, the size of a first-time home buyer’s mortgage was $231,974 in the first three quarters of 2018, based on loan acquisitions data from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This represents a 4.2% increase over the average size of $223,000 for mortgages to first-time home buyers originated in 2017 and an acceleration from the 1.8% annual gain in 2016.