US New-Home Purchase Mortgage Applications Increase in July

On Monday, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported that mortgage applications for new-home purchases rose 6.8% in July from June, according to data from its Builder Application Survey. Applications were up 7.0% year-over-year. Changes are not seasonally adjusted.

MBA estimates new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units in July, an increase of 2.7% from the June pace of 667,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimates that there were 58,000 sales, an increase of 5.5% from 55,000 in June.

By product type, conventional loans accounted for 50.1% of applications, FHA loans 35.3%, VA loans 13.4%, and RHS/USDA loans 1.2%. The average loan size declined to $372,745 from $376,077 in June.

In remarks accompanying the report, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said:

“Purchase activity for new homes strengthened in July as both mortgage applications and estimated new-home sales reached their highest levels since April 2025. Applications were boosted by borrowers looking to take advantage of slightly lower mortgage rates during the month and higher levels of newly built inventory. This likely helped to improve affordability, as many builders are still offering concessions to buyers. Additionally, the average loan size continued to trend lower.”