New Home Mortgage Applications in U.S. Spike 18 Percent Annually in June

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"Ongoing concerns about economic growth and trade policy likely kept some potential buyers out of the market despite lower mortgage rates," said Joel Kan, MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. "Our seasonally adjusted estimate of new home sales was down in June after two of the strongest months in the survey's history dating back to 2013, but remained higher than a year ago. The average loan amount for new home purchase applications fell slightly to its lowest level since November 2018, as home price growth continued to slow in many markets and purchase transactions have shifted away from the higher end of the price spectrum."

MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 646,000 units in June 2019, 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 a decrease of 11.1 percent from the May pace of 727,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that there were 58,000 new home sales in June 2019, a decrease of 15.9 percent from 69,000 new home sales in May.