WASHINGTON – Mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 1% compared from a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association Builder Application Survey (BAS) for August 2025.
Compared to July 2025, applications decreased by 6%, MBA said.
“Applications to purchase newly constructed homes remained higher than last year, although the monthly pace of applications slowed from July,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist. “The bright spot in the August results was that estimated new home sales increased for the third consecutive month to its strongest sales pace in almost a year. Housing inventory levels continue to grow, which has given prospective homebuyers more buying options and continues to reduce sales price pressures. The average loan size remained below $380,000 for the fifth consecutive month and was close to 2021 levels.”
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, were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 730,000 units in August 2025. The new home sales estimate is derived using mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors, MBA explained.
The seasonally adjusted estimate for August is an increase of 6.6% from the July pace of 685,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that there were 56,000 new home sales in August 2025, a decrease of 3.4% from 58,000 new home sales in July.
By product type, conventional loans composed 49.9% of loan applications, FHA loans composed 35.6%, RHS/USDA loans composed 1.2% and VA loans composed 13.4%. The average loan size for new homes increased from $372,745 in July to $374,288 in August, MBA said.