MBA: August New Home Purchase Applications Up 0.2% from July; Up 33% from Year Ago
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey data for August shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by 0.2 percent from July but by 33 percent from a year ago.
These changes do not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.
By product type, conventional loans composed 69.3 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.1 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.8 percent and VA loans composed 11.8 percent. The average loan size of new homes increased from $325,457 in July to $332,497 in August.
“New home purchase activity was robust in August, as both mortgage applications and estimated home sales increased from a year ago,” said Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “Recent increases in new residential housing permits and housing starts, lower mortgage rates, and a still-strong job market all bode well for the new home sales outlook.”
MBA estimated new single-family home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 785,000 units in August, an increase of 4.1 percent from the July pace of 754,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimated 61,000 new home sales in August, a decrease of 3.2 percent from 63,000 new home sales in July.
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 Applications 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/research-and-economics/single-family-research/builder-applications-survey.
