New Home Purchase Applications Fall 8.3% in September; MBA Estimates Sales Pace Weakest Since April 2020
Washington, D.C. — Mortgage applications for new home purchases decreased 8.3 percent from a year ago in September 2026, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported on October 15 in its Builder Application Survey (BAS). Compared with August 2026, applications decreased 8 percent; the figures are not adjusted for typical seasonal patterns. The monthly BAS, distinct from MBA's weekly applications survey, tracks application volume from the mortgage subsidiaries of home builders across the country.
MBA estimated that new single-family home sales were running at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 584,000 units in September, down 12 percent from the August pace of 664,000 units. On an unadjusted basis, MBA estimated 47,000 new home sales in September, a decrease of 9.6 percent from 52,000 in August. Joel Kan, MBA's vice president and deputy chief economist, said the 584,000-unit estimate was the weakest sales pace since April 2020. He said the increase in mortgage rates in September had a chilling effect on new home purchase activity, with both applications and sales falling further behind last year's pace, and that higher rates had a greater impact on first-time homebuyers' purchase decisions.
By product type, conventional loans composed 50.2 percent of new home loan applications, FHA loans 34.7 percent, VA loans 14.1 percent, and RHS/USDA loans 1.0 percent; the FHA share decreased from August. The average loan size for new homes increased from $373,194 in August to $374,724 in September.
MBA said the Builder Application Survey allows it to provide an early estimate of new home sales volumes at the national, state and metro levels, and that the estimate has consistently been a leading indicator of the U.S. Census Bureau's New Residential Sales report. The Census Bureau records new home sales at contract signing, which is typically coincident with the mortgage application. The association is headquartered at 1919 M Street NW in Washington, D.C.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国郊区住宅区环形路旁的联排住宅（资料图），画面不含价格或利率数字。图片来源：Carol M. Highsmith 摄，美国国会图书馆藏品（LCCN2011635725），公共领域，取自维基共享资源 / Photo: Townhouses along a suburban cul-de-sac in the United States (file photo). Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress (LCCN2011635725), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
