Mortgage Applications for New Home Purchases Up in March

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According to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) for March 2014, mortgage applications for new home purchases increased by 15 percent relative to the previous month.  This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.

By product type, conventional loans composed 68.3 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 17.2 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 1.6 percent and VA loans composed 12.9 percent.  The average loan size of new homes increased from $295,008 in February to $296,428 in March.

The MBA estimates sales of new single-family homes were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 479,000 units in March 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 estimated sale pace for March is a decrease of 10.1 percent from the February pace of 533,000 units.  On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates that there were 46,000 new home sales in March 2014, an increase of 7.0 percent from 43,000 in February.