Mortgage applications for new homes increased 12% in November since last year, according to the newest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Applications Survey.
On a monthly basis, applications decreased by 3% from October. The report noted that this change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.
MBA’s Builder Applications Survey tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of homebuilders across the country.
Lynn Fisher, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, attributed the yearly rise to continued improvement in the overall economy and job growth.
“Despite the fact that overall home prices have increased at a greater than 5% annualized rate, the growth in average loan size for new homes has slowed, increasing 3% in November to $329,400 from a year ago and up just 1% since January,” she said.
The average loan size of new homes in October was $329,634.
The report also estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 588,000 units in November 2016, up 7.5% from 547,000 units in October.
Broken up by product type, conventional loans composed 67.3% of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.3%, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.7% and VA loans composed 13.8%.
Fisher recently sat down with HousingWire to talk about the coming increase in households over the next decade.
This data put the current homebuilding situation into perspective, but what about the future?
In the video interview below, she explains whether or not the housing market is ready for the 13 million to 16 million additional households over the next decade in the U.S.
