Decline in New Home Mortgage Apps "Seasonally Driven"

Applications for mortgages to purchase newly constructedrnhomes dropped by 6 percent in August according to the Mortgage BankersrnAssociation (MBA).  The data, compiledrnfrom MBA’s Builder Application Survey (BAS) is not adjusted to account forrnseasonal patterns.</p

MBA estimates that new home sales in August werernrunning at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 524,000 units, down 1.9 percentrnfrom the July rate of 534,000 units.  Onrnan unadjusted estimate MBA estimates there were 41,000 new homes sold inrnAugust, a 3,000 unit decrease, or 6.8 percent, from July. The average loan sizernof new homes increased from $316,995 in July to $317,035 in August. The newrnhome sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from thernBAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors.</p

MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics Lynn Fisher said new homernpurchase applications still were 19 percent higher than a year earlier,rnconsistent with patterns seen throughout 2015. rnHe called the July to August decrease “seasonally-driven.”</p

Conventional loans composed 68.5 percent of newrnhome purchase mortgage applications and FHA loans accounted for 19.0rnpercent.  VA loans made up 11.6 percent ofrnthe total and RHS/USDA loans 0.9 percent. </p

MBA’s Builder Application Survey tracksrnapplication volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across therncountry.  Utilizing this data, as well as data from other sources, MBA givesrnan early estimate of new home sales volumes at the national, state, and metrornlevel.  Official new home sales estimates are conducted by the CensusrnBureau on a monthly basis.  In that data, new home sales are recorded atrncontract signing, which is typically coincident with the mortgagernapplication. 

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.