WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 14, 2020) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for March 2020 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 21.2 percent compared from a year ago. Compared to February 2020, applications increased by 14 percent. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.

“The strong increase in new home purchase applications was likely because of falling mortgage rates and stronger economic conditions at the start of the month. This boosted activity and offset the coinciding decline once COVID-19-related disruption sapped demand in the following weeks,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “The seasonally adjusted estimate of new home sales decreased almost 7 percent last month. Although that is a notable decline, it is not as steep as what has occurred in MBA’s weekly purchase applications data, which covers both the new and existing home markets. It is expected that new home purchases in April will decrease.”

MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 697,000 units in March 2020, based on data from the BAS. The new home sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for March is a decrease of 6.6 percent from the February pace of 746,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that there were 71,000 new home sales in March, an increase of 10.9 percent from 64,000 new home sales in February.

By product type, conventional loans composed 68.1 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 18.6 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 1.4 percent and VA loans composed 11.9 percent. The average loan size of new homes increased from $340,169 in February to $344,556 in March.

MBA’s Builder Application Survey tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country. Utilizing this data, as well as data from other sources, MBA is able to provide an early estimate of new home sales volumes at the national, state, and metro level. This data also provides information regarding the types of loans used by new home buyers. Official new home sales estimates are conducted by the Census Bureau on a monthly basis. In that data, new home sales are recorded at contract signing, which is typically coincident with the mortgage application.

For additional information on MBA’s Builder Application Survey, please click here.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 9, 2020) — Mortgage credit availability decreased in March according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that analyzes data from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs® Market Clarity® business information tool.

The MCAI fell by 16.1 percent to 152.1 in March. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. The Conventional MCAI decreased 24.2 percent, while the Government MCAI decreased by 6.6 percent. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI decreased by 36.9 percent, and the Conforming MCAI fell by 2.7 percent.

“Mortgage credit supply decreased 16 percent in March to the lowest level since June 2015, with declines in availability across all loan types. There was a reduction in the availability of loans with lower credit scores and higher LTV ratios, and the largest pullback came from the jumbo and non-QM space,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “This month’s release highlights the large retreat from jumbo and non-QM investors due to a sharp drop in liquidity. Lenders are making credit criteria changes to account for the increased likelihood of forbearance and defaults, as well as higher costs.”

Added Kan, “There was also a significant drop in availability of LIBOR-indexed ARMs, as lenders acted on the GSEs’ announcement to halt purchases of those loan products.”

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association; Powered by Ellie Mae’s AllRegs^® Market Clarity^®

CONVENTIONAL, GOVERNMENT, CONFORMING, AND JUMBO MCAI COMPONENT INDICES

The MCAI fell by 16.1 percent to 152.1 in March. The Conventional MCAI decreased 24.2 percent, while the Government MCAI decreased by 6.6 percent. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI decreased by 36.9 percent, and the Conforming MCAI fell by 2.7 percent.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association; Powered by Ellie Mae’s AllRegs^® Market Clarity^®

The Conventional, Government, Conforming, and Jumbo MCAIs are constructed using the same methodology as the Total MCAI and are designed to show relative credit risk/availability for their respective index. The primary difference between the total MCAI and the Component Indices are the population of loan programs which they examine. The Government MCAI examines FHA/VA/USDA loan programs, while the Conventional MCAI examines non-government loan programs. The Jumbo and Conforming MCAIs are a subset of the conventional MCAI and do not include FHA, VA, or USDA loan offerings. The Jumbo MCAI examines conventional programs outside conforming loan limits, while the Conforming MCAI examines conventional loan programs that fall under conforming loan limits.

The Conforming and Jumbo indices have the same “base levels” as the Total MCAI (March 2012=100), while the Conventional and Government indices have adjusted “base levels” in March 2012. MBA calibrated the Conventional and Government indices to better represent where each index might fall in March 2012 (the “base period”) relative to the Total=100 benchmark.

EXPANDED HISTORICAL SERIES

The Total MCAI has an expanded historical series that gives perspective on credit availability going back approximately 10-years (expanded historical series does not include Conventional, Government, Conforming, or Jumbo MCAI). The expanded historical series covers 2004 through 2010, and was created to provide historical context to the current series by showing how credit availability has changed over the last 10 years – including the housing crisis and ensuing recession. Data prior to March 31, 2011, was generated using less frequent and less complete data measured at 6-month intervals and interpolated in the months between for charting purposes. Methodology on the expanded historical series from 2004 to 2010 has not been updated.

Source: Mortgage Bankers Association; Powered by Ellie Mae’s AllRegs^® Market Clarity^®

Data prior to 3/31/2011 was generated using less frequent and less complete data measured at 6-month intervals interpolated in the months between for charting purposes.

RENO, Nev. — March 26, 2020 — Clear Capital, the premier provider of modern real estate valuation and analytics technology solutions, today announced OwnerInsight™, a tool that enables safe social distancing while empowering homeowners to provide timely, high-quality information and images of the interior and exterior of their homes to lenders, appraisers, and appraisal management companies (AMCs) through a secure interface.

OwnerInsight will launch the week of March 30 and is being offered for free in response to the COVID-19 health situation. OwnerInsight works seamlessly on camera-enabled mobile devices with no need for app downloads, and photo metadata is captured to ensure protection against fraud. Clear Capital developed OwnerInsight for the mortgage industry in response to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac’s temporary approval of alternative appraisal products that reduce the frequency of in-person interaction to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

OwnerInsight ensures appraisers have vital information to complete accurate appraisals while also allowing homeowners and appraisers to comply with social distancing guidelines. In response to the COVID-19 health situation, Clear Capital is providing free, live support for OwnerInsight users from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT on weekdays and from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT on weekends.

“OwnerInsight walks homeowners through a logical, easy-to-follow process of taking photos and answering a few questions about the quality, condition, and unique characteristics of their home,” said Duane Andrews, CEO and Co-Founder of Clear Capital. “In order to provide easy accessibility to this helpful and timely technology, we are currently providing OwnerInsight, along with help desk phone support, at no cost to all lenders, appraisers, and AMCs.”

According to Andrews, the goal with OwnerInsight is to promote safe social distancing while helping provide the appraiser with adequate and sufficient information as referenced in question 15 of Fannie Mae’s “COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions” document.

Lenders, AMCs, and tech platforms can build API connections to enable OwnerInsight within their workflows. All that is required to initiate an order with the API is a property address and basic homeowner contact information.

“During the COVID-19 health situation, OwnerInsight provides critical efficiencies for lenders and appraisers to access information that is indispensable to the appraisal process,” said Jeff Allen, Executive Vice President of Valuation Strategy at Clear Capital. “Without OwnerInsight on the market, homeowners and appraisers would face a manual and confusing back-and-forth, trapped in email and phone calls with unclear requirements and no fraud mitigation. We want to ensure the industry remains active and capital remains fluid during these difficult times.”

Additionally, Clear Capital is partnering with Ellie Mae®, the leading loan origination platform provider for the residential mortgage industry, to make OwnerInsight seamlessly available to lenders who are on the Ellie Mae Digital Lending Platform via Encompass Partner Connect.

“During this unprecedented time, the need for innovative technology solutions that keep mortgage processes moving forward while limiting in-person interaction is critical,” said Parvesh Sahi, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Ellie Mae. “Clear Capital’s OwnerInsight will give our lenders the ability to connect homeowners and appraisers while ensuring a compliant and efficient mortgage process to solve both immediate and long-term lender needs.”

Visit GetOwnerInsight.com for more information or to initiate an instant order via the web interface.