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MBA Data Shows Drop in New Home Purchase Applications

Applications for new home purchases plummeted from October to November, the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://www.mba.org/default.htm (MBA) estimates in its latest Builder Application Survey (BAS).

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The BAS, which tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of homebuilders nationwide, shows applications for new homes fell an estimated 18 percent (unadjusted) month-over-month in November.

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By product type, MBA reports conventional loans accounted for 66.2 percent of loan applications; loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) made up 19.9 percent; mortgages insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) composed 12.9 percent; and loans insured by rural-focused government agencies made up 1.1 percent of volume.

Using information from the survey--as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors--MBA estimates sales of new single-family homes ran at an adjusted annual rate of 455,000, up 11,000 from the Census Bureau's estimate for October (but down from the association's prediction of 509,000).

Unadjusted, MBA estimates there were 32,000 new home sales in November.

The average loan size for new homes was up slightly, rising a little more than $1,000 to $295,523.