Mortgage applications for new-home purchases decreased 2.2% YoY, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for November 2021. On a monthly basis, applications decreased by 3%.
 
MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 905,000 units in November 2021.
 
Key findings:
 
- The seasonally adjusted estimate for November is an increase of 0.9% from October's 897,000 units.
 
- Unadjusted, MBA estimates there were 65,000 new-home sales in November 2021—down 4.4% from 68,000 new-home sales in October.
 
- Conventional loans composed 76.3% of loan applications, FHA loans composed 13.2%, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.5%  and VA loans composed 10%.
 
- The average loan size of new homes increased from $412,339 to $414,114 in November.
 
The takeaway:
 
“Applications to purchase new homes in November slightly declined on a monthly and annual basis,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting, in a statement. “However, the average loan amount increased to a new record of $414,114. A competitive purchase market, combined with increased building materials costs, have been pushing sales prices higher. There also continues to be a shift to the higher end of the market, which is also contributing to the higher loan amounts.”
 
“New home sales had a strong month with more homebuyers choosing newly built homes. Home sales edged higher over the month to the strongest annual pace since January 2021 at 905,000 units, as limited for-sale inventory has driven more demand to the new home segment," added Kan. "MBA’s November estimate for new home sales is the largest for the month since the survey began in 2012.”

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