Sales of newly built single-family homes dropped 10.5% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 607,000, the slowest pace since January and 6.3% below a year earlier, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The decline followed a sharply upward-revised June estimate.
The National Association of Home Builders attributed the slowdown to elevated borrowing costs, inflation and economic uncertainty, with mortgage rates climbing from 6.1% to above 6.6% since January. Despite widespread builder incentives such as mortgage rate buydowns, sales are down more than 4% year to date, keeping the market on track for a second consecutive annual decline in 2026.
The median sales price fell 2.3% from June to $393,800, though the high-end market remained strong with homes priced above $800,000 increasing their share of sales from 5% to 8% year-over-year.
Year to date, sales are up 8.8% in the Northeast but down 6.4% in the Midwest, 6.4% in the West and 3.7% in the South.
Read the full report here.
