Applications for new-home purchases grew in March. According to recent data from the Mortgage Bankers Association, mortgage applications for new-home purchases rose by 5.5% compared with the same month last year and jumped by 14% from February. It's estimated that new single-family home sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000 units in March, which is a 0.8% drop from February’s 634,000 pace. On an unadjusted basis, an estimated 61,000 new homes were sold in March, up 7% from February’s 57,000 sales.
“Applications for new home purchases increased in March, consistent with typical seasonal patterns and supported by mortgage rates that had been drifting lower,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The growing inventory of newly built, move-in ready homes supported homebuyer interest over the month, pushing the index higher than last year’s levels. Our estimate of seasonally adjusted new home sales saw a slight decline in March but were stronger than last year’s pace of sales." Read more