August New Home Purchase Mortgage Applications Increased 4.4 Percent

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 17, 2024) – The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for August 2024 shows mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 4.4 percent compared from a year ago. Compared to July 2024, applications decreased by 0 percent. This change does not include any adjustment for typical seasonal patterns.

“Applications for new home purchases continue to show year-over-year growth, increasing by more than four percent and extending the annual growth streak to 19 consecutive months,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “Homebuyers, including a growing share of first-time buyers, continue to favor newly built homes, as declining mortgage rates in August contributed to the uptick in new home sales activity. The FHA share of purchase applications reached another record high in the survey at 29.6 percent. Estimated new home sales increased almost 15 percent over the month, reaching the fastest sales pace since February 2022.” 

MBA estimates new single-family home sales, which has consistently been a leading indicator of the U.S. Census Bureau’s New Residential Sales report, is that new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 776,000 units in August 2024. 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 August is an increase of 14.6 percent from the July pace of 677,000 units.  On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that there were 60,000 new home sales in August 2024, an increase of 5.3 percent from 57,000 new home sales in July. 

By product type, conventional loans composed 59.7 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 29.6 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.5 percent and VA loans composed 10.2 percent. The average loan size for new homes increased from $393,344 in July to $395,935 in August.

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.