Applications for New Home Purchases Increased in January

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for January 2016 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by 14 percent relative to the previous month. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.

By product type, conventional loans composed 67.4 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 19.5 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.7 percent and VA loans composed 12.4 percent. The average loan size of new homes decreased from $333,182 in December to $325,806 in January.

The MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 499,000 units in January 2016, based on data from the BAS. The new home sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for January is an increase of 4.0 percent from the December pace of 480,000 units.  On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates that there were 38,000 new home sales in January 2016, an increase of 11.8 percent from 34,000 new home sales in December.

MBA’s Builder Application Survey tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country.  Utilizing this data, as well as data from other sources, MBA is able to provide an early estimate of new home sales volumes at the national, state, and metro level.  This data also provides information regarding the types of loans used by new home buyers.  Official new home sales estimates are conducted by the Census Bureau on a monthly basis.  In that data, new home sales are recorded at contract signing, which is typically coincident with the mortgage application.