They increased significantly year-over-year
Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased in November year-over-year, according to a survey by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
The Builder Application Survey (BAS) found that mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by 21.8% compared to a year ago. However, applications decreased by 12% month-over-month.
“Lending on new construction has been the one bright spot in an otherwise slow year for purchase originations,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s SVP and chief economist.
“That trend continued in November, with applications to purchase a new home up 22% compared to last year, while the purchase market as a whole remains about 20% behind last year’s pace,” he added.
The report estimated that new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 677,000 units in November. This was a 5.3% decrease from October’s 715,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, there was an estimated 49,000 new homes sales in November, which was still a 10.9% decrease from the 55,000 new homes sales in October.
When it comes to product type, conventional loans composed about 62.8% of loan applications while FHA loans composed 27.1%. RHS/USDA loans composed 0.3%, while VA loans composed 9.7%. The average loan size for new homes was $390,049 in November, which was a decrease from the $390,225 in October.
MBA’s BAS tracks the volume of applications from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country. It also provides information about the types of loans that new home buyers use.
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