Applications for New Home Purchases Rise in January: MBA

Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 14% on an unadjusted basis from the month before, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's Builder Application Survey.

MBA estimated that new-home sales for single-family units occurred at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 499,000 units, up 4% from the December rate of 480,000 units. The average loan size, meanwhile, decreased to $325,806 in January from $333,182 in December.

Conventional loans continued to make up the majority of product types at 67.4%. Federal Housing Administration-insured loans comprised 19.5% of all loans, and Veterans Affairs and U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development loans came to 12.4% and 0.7%, respectively.