Mortgage applications for new homes declined in November, although not as sharp a drop as is typical for this time of year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Applications fell 6% compared to October on an unadjusted basis, according to the MBA's Builder Applications Survey.
"This is a very good result considering the time of year," Lynn Fisher, the MBA's vice president of research and economics, said in a news release.
There were 524,000 new single-family home sales in November, on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to an MBA estimate based on the builder survey's mortgage application figures and assumptions on factors affecting the market.
The 524,000 figure is a 5.9% increase from the 495,000 units that were estimated to have sold in October.
Among the new-home mortgages, 68.4% were conventional loans, 18.1% were Federal Housing Administration loans, 0.9% were U.S. Department of Agriculture loans and 12.6% were Department of Veterans Affairs loans.
The average size of these mortgages fell 0.01% to $320,854 from October to November.
