Mortgage apps for new home purchases drop

Mortgage applications for new homes were down by 18% last month

Applications for new home purchases dropped in November, according to data released Thursday.

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey, mortgage applications for new home purchases in November were down by 18% from the previous month. The survey tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders nationwide.

Conventional loans accounted for 66.2% of application volume in November, while Federal Housing Administration loans made up 19.9%. Veterans Administration loans composed 12.9% and RHS/USDA loans accounted for 1.1%. The average loan size for new homes increased to $295,523, up from October’s 295,480.

According to MBA estimates, sales of new single-family homes were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 455,000 in November. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that 32,000 new homes were sold last month.