Sales of new single-family homes in the United States fell sharply in July, even as the median price of those properties dropped to its lowest level in five years, according to the latest federal data.
New home sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 607,000 units in July, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, down 10.5 percent from June’s upwardly revised rate of 678,000 and 6.3 percent below the July 2025 rate of 648,000.
It also marked the slowest sales pace in six months.
New home sales are recorded when a sales contract is signed, regardless of whether the home has yet to be built, is under construction, or has been completed. The annualized July rate means that 607,000 homes would be sold over 12 months if that month’s pace continued.
Regional performance varied sharply. More than 63 percent of July sales occurred in the South and another 28 percent in the West, with the remainder split between the Northeast and Midwest.
Sales in the Midwest plunged 50.6 percent from a year earlier to an annualized rate of 43,000, the lowest level for the region since September 2012.
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The Northeast moved in the opposite direction, with sales surging 95.5 percent from July 2025 to an annualized rate of 43,000, the fastest pace since December 2025.
New Home Prices Fall
Meanwhile, the median sales price of a new single-family home fell to $393,800 in July, down 2.3 percent from the revised June level and the lowest since July 2021, according to the Census Bureau.
That was also below the median price of $434,100 for an existing home in July. It is unusual for newly built homes to sell for less than preowned homes.
The estimated number of new homes available for sale at the end of July stood at a seasonally adjusted 488,000. At the current sales pace, that represents 9.6 months of supply.
A six-month supply is generally considered indicative of a balanced housing market.
Buyers Pull Back
Other recent data also point to weakening demand.
A separate report released on Tuesday by economic research group The Conference Board showed that 5.2 percent of U.S. customers planned to purchase a home within the next six months, down from 6.5 percent in July. The decline was the largest in more than five years.
Throughout July, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage ranged between 6.6 percent and 6.87 percent, according to Freddie Mac. That added to affordability pressures on home buyers amid broader economic uncertainty.
“New home sales fell in July to their slowest pace since the start of the year as affordability challenges limited home buyer traffic,” Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), said in a statement.
According to Owens, home builders have increasingly relied on incentives such as mortgage-rate buydowns, in addition to price cuts, to attract buyers.
Robert Dietz, chief economist at the NAHB, said the single-family construction market is now headed for another year of contraction.
“The single-family home building market is on track for a second consecutive annual decline in 2026,” Dietz said.
