Sunbelt States Buoy Builder Application Survey

While applications for mortgages tornfinance newly constructed homes fell slightly in September they continued tornincrease in three large Sunbelt states.  ThernMortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey (BAS) for the monthrnwas down 1 percent nationwide but increased from August by 5.6 percent inrnTexas, 1.6 percent in Florida, and 15.5 percent in California.  On an Annual basis the BAS rose in Texas andrnFlorida by 12.4 percent and 10.7 percent respectively but fell by 5.1 percentrnin California. </p

Breaking the BAS down by loan types,rn68.4 percent of the applications were for conventional loans, 16.6 percent forrnFHA and 13.9 percent for VA loans. rnSlightly over 1 percent were for RHS/USDA loans.  The average size of a loan increased from $284,392rnin August to $289,650 in September.</p

Using BAS information (which is notrnseasonally adjusted) and other market assumptions MBA projects that sales ofrnnew single family homes were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate ofrn459,000 units in September and that on an unadjusted basis there were 36,000rnnew homes sales.  Although mortgagernapplications were down for the month an increase in the expected number of cashrnsales led to an increase in the overall estimate.</p

MBA’s Builder Application Survey tracksrnapplication volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across therncountry.  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 mortgage application.rn 

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