Applications for mortgages for new home purchases increased by 2% in July compared to June, on an unadjusted basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Builder Application Survey.
By product type, conventional loans composed 68.8% of applications for new home purchases, Federal Housing Administration loans composed 16.1%, Rural Housing Service/U.S. Department of Agriculture loans composed 1.5% and Veterans Affairs loans composed 13.6%.
The average loan size for a new home increased from $297,253 in June to $297,253 in July.
The MBA estimates that sales of new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 433,000 units in July – an increase of 12.2% from the June pace of 386,000 units.
On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates that there were 37,000 new home sales in July, an increase of 2.8% from 36,000 in June.
The MBA's data, which was released last week, appears to be driving increased confidence among home builders. This week, the National Association of Home Builders released its Housing Market Index report, which shows that builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes rose two points in August to reach a score of 55 on the index.