New home purchase apps up

Applications for new home purchases spiked 15% in March, according to new data

Applications for new home purchases were up 15% month over month in March, according to data released today.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s Builder Application Survey reported the spike, which did not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns. According to the MBA, conventional loans composed 68.3% of loan applications, while FHA loans made up 17.2%, RHS/USDA loans made up 1.6% and VA loans composed 12.9%. Average loan size was also up, rising from $295,008 in February to $296,428 in March.

Sales of new single-family homes were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 479,000 units in March, according to MBA estimates. The estimated sales pace in March dropped 10.1% from February’s pace of 533,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, there were 46,000 hew home sales in March, according to MBA estimates – a 7% increase from February’s 43,000.