By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
Applications for the purchase of newly constructed homes fell off slightly in July, a decline that the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said was in line with the slowdown observed in the overall purchase mortgage market. MBA’s Builder Application Survey (BAS) showed a 4 percent decrease in new home applications, a change that does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.
Lynn Fisher, MBA’s Vice President of Research and Economics said the change was driven in part by an increase in interest rates relative to earlier in the spring. Nonetheless the number of builder applications was still up 15 percent compared to a year ago.