MBA Sees Wintertime Volatility in Builder Survey

New home sales were up slightly inrnFebruary the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said today, but the increasernwas based on a substantially downgraded January estimate.  MBA issues their estimate of new home sales,rnwhich is based on mortgage applications, in advance of the official count byrnthe U.S. Census Bureau.</p

Sales of new homes were at a seasonallyrnadjusted annual rate of 533,000 units in February, 1 percent above the revisedrnJanuary rate of 527,000.  January’s salesrnwere originally estimated at a rate of 543,000 which represented a 35 percentrnsurge from an unusually low sales rate of 402,000 in December.  On an unadjusted basis MBA said there werern43,000 new homes sold during the month, a 13 percent bump from January’s 38,000rnsales. </p

Mortgage applications for new homernpurchases increased by 12 percent relative to January; a change that does notrninclude any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.  Conventional loans composed 65.1 percent ofrnloan applications, FHA 16.5 percent, VA loans 13 percent, and Rural HousingrnServices/USDA loans 5.3 percent.   The average loanrnsize of new homes increased from $289,358 in January to $295,008 in February.</p

MBA derives its estimatesrnfrom its Builder Application Survey which tracks mortgage application volumernfrom mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country and from assumptionsrnregarding market coverage and other factors. rnThe Census Bureau’s report on new home sales, data that is recorded atrncontract signing which is typically coincident with the mortgage application,rnwill be released on March 25.

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