Purchase mortgage activity, which normally picks up in March and April, is getting an extra boost from an improving economy, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported.
Applications in March rose 17%
Conventional loans continued to make up the majority of product types at 67.5%, followed by FHA loans at 18.7%, VA loans at 13% and USDA loans at 0.7%. The application data is not seasonally adjusted.
The MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 574,000 units in March.
The seasonally adjusted estimate for March is an increase of 5.5% from the February pace of 544,000 units. On an adjusted basis, the MBA estimates that there were 54,000 new home sales in March, an increase of 14.9% from 47,000 the prior month.
Peak application activity for new homes during the past three years has occurred in March and April, Lynn Fisher, MBA vice president of research and economics, said in a news release Thursday.
"Rising prices for existing homes and a strong job market are making the math work for new construction,” Fisher said.
