Applications for mortgages for new home purchases increased 2% in April compared with March and were up 5.3% compared April 2024, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS).
“Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty and mortgage rate volatility, April was a strong month for new home purchase activity, with applications posting an annual gain for the second straight month,” says Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist for the MBA, in a statement. “The applications index reached its highest level in the survey’s history dating back to 2012. Additionally, MBA’s estimate of new home sales also increased over the month to a 718,000 seasonally adjusted annualized pace, its strongest pace since October 2024. As the unsold inventory of new homes continues to grow in many parts of the country, reduced buyer competition and pricing pressures supported more buying activity over the month.”
New single-family home sales in April were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 718,000 units – an increase of 14.1% from the March pace of 629,000 units, the MBA estimates.
On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates that there were 65,000 new home sales in April 2025, an increase of 6.6% from 61,000 new home sales in March.
By product type, conventional loans composed 46.4% of loan applications, FHA loans composed 39.2%, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.9% and VA loans composed 13.5%.
The average loan size for a new home decreased was $376,992 in April, down from $381,921 in March.
Photo: Alexander Andrews