Mortgage applications for new home purchases fell by 15% in June when compared to the previous month, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in its new Builder Application Survey.
The BAS premiered for the first time Thursday and will capture mortgage loan application activity on new single-family properties for lenders affiliated with home builders on a monthly basis, the MBA explained.
Broken up by product type, conventional loans accounted for 67.3% of loan applications, FHA loans made up 17.4%, RHS/USDA loans composed 1.9% and VA loans represented 13.4% of the study apps.
Additionally, the average loan size for a new home loan purchase dipped slightly to $283,000 in June from $283,795 in May.
Combining information from the survey along with assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors, the MBA estimated that on an unadjusted basis there were 39,000 new home sales in June. At an annual seasonally adjusted rate, that amount equates to 413,000 for the year.
“Along with being an important leading indicator of developments in the market for new homes, the BAS will provide additional color on the composition of sales in that market,” said Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics.
He added, “The BAS tracks monthly changes in national activity levels, average loan size and the types of loans buyers are seeking to fund their new home purchases.”
The survey will be released the second week of each month and will continue to expand and phase in more detailed information including state- and metropolitan-level statistics.
