Less Mortgage Applications for New Home Buys in November

Dec 13, 2018

The latest housing data show a market experiencing a winter slowdown

Mortgage applications for new home purchases in November were down by 14 percent from October and were also 11 percent lower than November 2017, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

The MBA estimated new single-family home sales at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 627,000 units in November, 6.8 percent below the 673,000 units sold in October. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimated 45,000 new home sales in November, a 15.1 percent tumble from the 53,000 new home sales in October. The average loan size of new homes shrank from $331,732 in October to $326,037 in November, while conventional loans composed 69.7 percent of loan applications and FHA loans accounted for 17.3 percent.

"New home sales fell almost seven percent in November and were about five percent lower than a year ago," said MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan. "Despite a still-strong job market and recent declines in mortgage rates, affordability challenges continue to hold back sales activity, as wage growth still lags behind home-price growth. Additionally, recent stock market volatility and some economic uncertainty likely also contributed to the pullback in home sales in November."

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Phil Hall

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Dec 13, 2018

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