January’s Mortgage Applications Up 40 Percent

Feb 18, 2020

Talk about an auspicious way to start a year: Mortgage applications for new home purchases during January were up by 40 percent from December and up by 35.3 percent from January 2019, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

The MBA estimated new single-family home sales in January were at a record-setting seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 865,000 units, up 25.5 percent from the December pace of 689,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimated 66,000 new home sales in January, an increase of 37.5 percent from 48,000 new home sales in December.

The average loan size of new homes increased from $338,625 in December to $346,140 in January. Conventional loans accounted for 69.5 percent of loan applications, followed by FHA loans at 17.8 percent, VA loans at 12 percent and RHS/USDA loans at 0.8 percent.

“New home applications and sales activity surged in January,” said MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting Joel Kan. “This was a continuation of the end of 2019, which saw strong residential construction and increased purchase applications activity. Even with some global and domestic economic uncertainty, builders have ramped up production in recent months to meet increased homebuyer demand.”

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Phil Hall

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Feb 18, 2020

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