Applications for financing on new home purchases in June were down 15% from the previous month, according to a new measure of activity from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Based on the MBA's Builder Application Survey and some assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors, the association's economists estimate that sales of new single-family homes were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 413,000 in June 2013.
On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates there were 39,000 new home sales in June.
The new survey captures mortgage loan application activity on new single-family properties for lenders affiliated with homebuilders. It will be produced every month.
Since sales estimates reported by the Census Bureau on a monthly basis are based on new home sales as recorded at contract signing, capturing the number of mortgage applications, which are typically made around the same time as contracts are signed, will provide an earlier indicator of new home sales.
BAS will track application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of large homebuilders across the country. Utilizing these data, as well as data from other sources, the MBA also will be able to provide information regarding the types of loans used by new homebuyers.
In June, two-thirds of the loan apps were for conventional loans, 17.4% were for FHA loans, 13.4% were for VA financing and 1.9 % for RHS/USDA mortgages. The average loan size decreased from $283,795 in May to $283,000 in June.
"Along with being an important leading indicator of developments in the market for new homes, the BAS will provide additional color on the composition of sales in that market," said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics. "As we continue to expand the survey, we will release additional data and metrics, including geographic detail at the state and metro level."
According to the MBA, participants in the survey collectively account for approximately 20% of new home sales based on the Census Bureau estimates.
