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MBA: Mortgage Application Activity Soared in October
October witnessed the financial equivalent of a fall harvest for mortgage applications, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) latest Builder Application Survey.
Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased in October by 23 percent from September and by 16.1 percent compared to October 2016. The MBA estimated new single-family home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 659,000 units in October, up 15.4 percent from the September pace of 571,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimated there were 53,000 new home sales in October, up 26.2 percent from 42,000 new home sales in September.
The average loan size of new homes increased from $334,722 in September to $339,534 in October, while conventional loans composed 71.8 percent of loan applications and FHA loans composed 15.1 percent.
“October registered the strongest growth rate in applications so far this year, following September’s hurricane related decrease,” said Lynn Fisher, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics. “Overall, applications reached near August levels. Texas mirrored the national pattern, and Florida fell just four percent short of its August total. The Builder Application Survey does not measure activity in Puerto Rico.”
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