Applications for new home sales spike

Applications for new home sales showed a significant uptick in October as the job market improved

Mortgage applications for new home purchases were last month, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

“Applications for new home purchases picked up in October, particularly for higher-priced homes,” said MBA chief economist Mike Fratantoni. “The continued improvement of the job market and still-low mortgage rates are supporting the upper levels of the purchase market, while the tight credit environment continues to constrain sales at the entry level.”

New single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 461,000 units in October, according to MBA estimates. That’s an increase of 8.5% over September’s pace of 425,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, there were 36,000 new home sales last month, according to MBA estimates. That’s up 12.5% from 32,000 new homes in September.