Briefing.com: New Home Sales

Updated: 20-Feb-26 10:39 ET

December New Home Sales

Updated: 20-Feb-26 10:39 ET

Highlights

New home sales declined 1.7% month-over-month in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 745,000 units (Briefing.com consensus: 714,000) versus 758,000 units in November.
On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were up 3.8%.

Key Factors

The median sales price decreased 2.0% yr/yr in December to $414,400, while the average sales price increased 4.7% yr/yr to $532,600.
New home sales month-over-month/year-over-year by region in December: Northeast (-37.3%/+12.1%); Midwest (+31.7%/+30.1%); South (-6.7%/-1.1%); and West (+9.0%; +1.8%).
At the current sales pace, the supply of new homes for sale stood at 7.6 months, versus 7.7 in November and 8.2 months in the year-ago period.
The percentage of new homes sold for $399,000 or less accounted for 46% of new homes sold versus 49% in November. Homes priced between $400,000 and $799,000 accounted for 43% of new homes sold versus 39% in November. New homes priced at $800,000 or over accounted for 11% of sales in December versus 12% in November.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that the weakest growth was concentrated in the nation's largest new home market--the South--underscoring the prevailing weakness in the housing market that has coincided with affordability constraints driven by higher prices and higher mortgage rates.