According to the Builder Application Survey (“BAS”), conducted by the Mortgage Bankers Association (“MBA”), mortgage applications for the purchase of new homes increased by 32.9% between October 2019 and October 2020; mortgage applications were up 5% between September 2020 and October 2020. This is just a fancy way of saying that sales activity has been increasing, surpassing expectations in nearly every metric that matters. The continuing trend is notable because of its timing; the end of the year tends to be slower for the housing market, and you would think this trend would continue in light of the pandemic, but mortgage applications are increasing.
The MBA estimates that roughly 927,000 single-family homes sold in October 2020, which represents a seasonally adjusted increase of 6.7% from September 2020's 869,00 units.
Conventional loans accounted for 71.8% of all loan applications, with the second largest portion of loan applications consisting of FHA loans, which sat at 17.65% of all loan applications. VA loans accounted for 9.9% of all applications, and RHS/USDA loans accounted for .8%. The average size of the loan increased slightly from $354,316 in September 2020 to $355,684 in October 2020.
In sum, the housing market remains robust in the face of a global climate; there are very few markets that can thrive in any situation, and the housing market appears to be one of them. At the Chernov team we understand that knowledge is power, and knowledge of how the market is behaving is powerful knowledge indeed. At the Chernov Team we know that whoever comes to the table most prepared leaves with the most, and the Chernov Team always leaves the table with the most.