The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for June 2014 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases decreased by 5 percent relative to the previous month.
By product type, conventional loans composed 67.2 percent of loan applications, Federal Housing Authority loans composed 17 percent, RHS/United States Department of Agriculture loans composed 1.2 percent and Veterans Administration loans composed 14.6 percent. The average loan size of new homes decreased from $296,427 in May to $296,078 in June.
The MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 386,000 units in June 2014, 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 June is an increase of 3.2 percent from the May pace of 374,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates that there were 36,000 new home sales in June 2014, unchanged from 36,000 new home sales in May.
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.