Briefing.com: New Home Sales

Updated: 19-Mar-26 10:27 ET

February New Home Sales

Updated: 19-Mar-26 10:27 ET

Highlights

New home sales declined 17.6% month-over-month in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 587,000 (Briefing.com consensus: 719,000), significantly undershooting expectations.
On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were down 11.3%.

Key Factors

The median sales price decreased 6.8% yr/yr in January to $400,500, while the average sales price decreased 3.6% yr/yr to $499,500.
New home sales month-over-month/year-over-year by region in January: Northeast (-44.7%/0.0%); Midwest (-33.9%/+18.0%); South (-8.1%/-8.8%); and West (-21.6%; -28.7%).
At the current sales pace, the supply of new homes for sale stood at 9.7 months, versus 8.0 in December and 9.0 months in the year-ago period.
The percentage of new homes sold for $399,000 or less accounted for 48% of new homes sold versus 44% in December. Homes priced between $400,000 and $799,000 accounted for 42% of new homes sold versus 44% in December. New homes priced at $800,000 or over accounted for 10% of sales versus 11% in December.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that sharp declines were registered in all regions, despite declines in both median and average selling prices, which suggests some demand attrition in the face of elevated mortgage rates and perhaps burgeoning concerns about job security.