New Home Purchase Apps Stagnant in December

Applications for mortgages to purchase newly constructedrnhomes dipped slightly in December, down 0.4 percent from the volume reported inrnNovember.  This estimate from thernMortgage Bankers Association, based on data from its Builder ApplicationrnSurvey, does not include adjustments to account for seasonal patterns.</p

Applications for conventional loans made up 70.8 percent ofrnthe total followed by FHA loans at 15.3 percent.  VA loans had a 12.7 percent share andrnRHS/USDA loans 1.2 percent.  The averagernsize of loans for which applications were made increased to $311,398 fromrn306,975 in November.</p

Based on application volume MBA estimates that new homernsales will be at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 409,000 units inrnDecember, up 2 percent from the November estimate of 401,000.  Sales on a non-seasonally adjusted basis arernestimated at 28,000 units, unchanged from November.  </p

MBA’s BAS tracks application volume from mortgagernsubsidiaries of home builders and uses other data as well to provide anrnestimate of new homes sales at state, federal, and metropolitan arearnlevels.  Official new home salesrnstatistics are issued later in the month from the U.S. Census Bureau from datarntaken at home purchase contract signing which typically coincides with thernmortgage application.

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