New Home Purchase Applications Down Again in September

Builder data tracked by the ""Mortgage Bankers Association"":http://mba.org/default.htm (MBA) indicates mortgage applications for new home purchases decreased from August to September.

[IMAGE]

MBA's monthly Builder Application Survey (BAS), which uses application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of homebuilders, suggests new home purchase application volume declined 1 percent month-over-month in September. The decline does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.

By product type, conventional loans accounted for 68.4 percent of loan applications, up 0.6 percentage points from August, while the share of loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) fell the same amount to 16.6 percent. The percentage of loans insured by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was flat at 13.9 percent. Rural government-backed loans made up 1.1 percent of volume, up slightly over the prior month.

The top three states for new home purchase application volume were Texas, Florida, and California, where volume increased month-over-month by 5.6 percent, 1.6 percent, and 15.5 percent, respectively. Year-over-year, applications for new home purchases increased by 12.4 percent in Texas and 10.7 percent in Florida while falling 5.1 percent in California.

Using information from the BAS and assumptions regarding market coverage, MBA estimates sales of new single-family homes ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 459,000 in September; sales were estimated at an unadjusted 36,000 for the month.

The average loan size for new homes was up about $5,250 last month, increasing to $289,650.