The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Builder Application Survey (BAS) data for December 2024 showed mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 8.9 percent year-over-year and dropped 3 percent from November 2024.

“Applications for newly built homes increased 9 percent compared to a year ago in December, while the FHA share of applications reached its second highest level in the survey’s history at 29 percent,” MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said in a release. “First-time homebuyers remained active in the new home segment, as existing inventory for starter homes remains tight. The monthly decrease in applications was consistent with typical seasonal patterns. MBA’s estimate of seasonally adjusted new home sales fell in December but remained slightly above last year’s sales pace.”

New single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 601,000 units in December, based on mortgage application information from the BAS, as well as assumptions regarding market coverage and other factors. That’s down from the November pace of 713,000 units. 

On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimated there were 46,000 new home sales in December, a decrease of 6.1 percent from 49,000 new home sales in November.

Conventional loans composed 60.1 percent of loan applications, FHA loans composed 29.4 percent, RHS/USDA loans composed 0.5 percent and VA loans composed 9.9 percent. The average loan size for new homes decreased from $402,873 in November to $400,930 in December.