Applications for mortgages for new home purchases decreased 4% in June compared with May but were up 8.5% compared with June 2024, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS).
“Applications to purchase new homes fell in June, consistent with typical seasonal patterns, but remained ahead of last year’s pace,” says Joel Kan, vice president and deputy chief economist for the MBA, in a statement. “A cloudier economic outlook and elevated mortgage rates continues to weigh on potential buyers, while growing inventory, builder incentives, and lower prices have brought some buyers back to the market. As a result, we continue to see home sales ebb and flow.”
Sales of new single-family homes were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000 units in June, an increase of 5.7% compared with May.
On an unadjusted basis, the MBA estimates that there were 55,000 new home sales in June, a decrease of 5.2% from May.
By product type, conventional loans composed 50% of applications for new home sales, while FHA loans composed 35.1%, RHS/USDA loans composed 1.2% and VA loans composed 13.8%.
The average loan size for a new home decreased to $376,077, down from $379,209 in May.
Photo: Alexander Andrews