New Homes Seeing Strong Demand:

The Mortgage Bankers Association said that Mortgage applications for home purchases increased in April as demand for newly built homes grows amid the housing supply shortage.

Data from MBA’s Builder Application Survey showed that purchase applications for new homes in April rose 4.1% year over year but were down 11% month over month.

Despite the monthly decline, MBA deputy chief economist Joel Kan noted that the annual rise is a positive sign that homebuyers are turning to new homes as a way to adapt to limited housing inventory.

“This was the third straight month of year-over-year growth in applications, which signals improving housing demand for newly built homes at a time when the broader housing market is leaning more on new construction to boost for-sale inventory levels,” Kan said.