Limited existing home inventory and slightly lower mortgage rates helped boost new home sales in March.
Sales of newly built single-family homes rose 7.4% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 682,000, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales were up 3.3% compared to a year earlier.
“An uptick in new home sales reflects improving demand conditions, supported by a modest pullback in mortgage rates and ongoing supply constraints in the existing home market,” said NAHB Chairman Bill Owens. “Builders are gradually increasing production, but elevated construction costs and labor shortages continue to limit the pace of expansion.”
NAHB Assistant Vice President for Forecasting and Analysis Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington said the increase in sales points to modest strengthening in residential construction activity, though affordability concerns and interest rate movements remain key challenges.
New home inventory fell slightly in March to 481,000 units, down 0.4% from February and 4.6% lower than a year ago, representing an 8.5-month supply at the current sales pace.
The median new home sale price declined to $387,400, down 6.2% year over year and nearly 10% below the recent peak reached in December 2025. Meanwhile, completed ready-to-occupy inventory rose 5.3% from a year ago to 119,000 homes.
Regionally, year-to-date new home sales increased 8.0% in the Midwest but declined 17.6% in the Northeast, 2.6% in the South, and 14.0% in the West.
ABOUT NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction.
