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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 56 August 2024 J O U R N A L JUMPING IN JUNE: NEW HOME PURCHASE MORTGAGE APPLICATION DATA A ccording to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Builder Application Sur- vey (BAS) for June 2024, the number of mortgage applications for the purchase of new homes increased by 0.7% from the previous year. The number of appli- cations fell by 16% from May 2024. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns "Applications for new home purchases slowed in June, consistent with broader declines in single-family construction and new building permits as well as typical seasonal patterns," said Joel Kan, MBA's VP and Deputy Chief Economist. "The average loan size edged lower for the second consecutive month, and the share of FHA (Federal Housing Administration) applications increased to 28.7%, as first-time buyers continue to account for a growing share of demand for newly built homes." New Home Sales Slow Despite Uptick in New Mortgage Applications As a reliable predictor of the U.S. Census Bureau's New Residential Sales report, MBA projects that, in June 2024, new single-family home sales will be operating at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units. The BAS' mort- gage application data is used to estimate new house sales, together with several characteristics and market coverage assumptions. Lending/Originations "MBA's estimate of new home sales showed a monthly decline to a pace of 626,000 units—the slowest in four months," Kan said. "Mortgage rates dipped below 7% in June but that did little to spur purchase activity." Seasonally adjusted, the June estimate is 10.8% lower than the May pace of 702,000 units. MBA projects that June 2024 saw 52,000 new home sales on an unadjusted basis, a 17.5% drop from May's 63,000 new home sales. Conventional loans accounted for 60.8% of loan applications by product type, followed by FHA loans (287.7%), RHS/USDA loans (0.3%), and VA loans (10.2%). Between May and June, the mean loan amount for newly construct- ed homes dropped from $400,150 to $399,879. MORTGAGE LENDERS REVEAL TOP PRIORITIES FOR 2024 I n the most recent Fannie Mae Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey (MLSS), mortgage lenders listed "cost-cutting" and "talent management and leadership" as their two top business objectives for 2024. Lenders had stated last year that lowering costs was their top goal. According to the most recent MLSS, almost two-thirds of respondents said they planned to reduce staff in 2023; however, very few said they expected this trend to remain until 2024. Lenders have differing opinions on how interest rates might change in the future. A third does not expect a jump in refinance activity in the near future, whereas nearly three out of five forecast a refinance boom in 2025. Fannie Mae polled more than 200 senior mortgage executives through the MLSS to gain a better understanding of the top business goals of lenders for the next year and how they might vary from previous years in light of market developments. Lenders listed cost-cutting and talent management as their main goals for