Washington, D.C.—Affordability challenges continued to weigh on the new-home market in June, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). Elevated mortgage rates, inflation and economic uncertainty kept many prospective buyers on the sidelines.
Sales of newly built single-family homes rose 1.6% in June. Sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau released the data.
The June rate increased from an upwardly revised estimate for May. However, the pace of new-home sales remained 5.6% below June 2025.
“The pace of new home sales has remained constrained in recent months by elevated mortgage rates,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the NAHB and a home builder and remodeler from Worthington, Ohio. “Builders continue to use incentives to support sales, with NAHB survey data showing that 62% of builders offered some form of incentive in June.”
Homes priced below $300,000 accounted for a larger share of sales during the month. They represented 23% of June sales, compared with 16% a year earlier.
“New home sales are gaining some momentum at the more affordable range of the market, with homes priced below $300,000 accounting for 23% of June sales, up from 16% a year earlier,” said Robert Dietz, NAHB chief economist. “However, that price point is generally only achievable in markets with lower development and construction costs, particularly with respect to lower state and local regulatory costs.”
A new-home sale occurs when a buyer signs a contract or submits a deposit. The home may be planned, under construction or completed. The annualized rate estimates how many homes would sell over 12 months if the June pace continued.
New single-family home inventory remained nearly unchanged in June at 485,000 units. Inventory declined 0.2% from May and 3.2% from a year earlier. That total represented a 9.3-month supply at the current construction pace.
NAHB also analyzed the combined inventory of new and existing single-family homes. That inventory reached slightly more than a 5.2-month supply.
Rising resale inventory and elevated new construction inventory contributed to the increase. The combined supply reached its highest level since fall 2014. The median new-home sales price fell 3.3% from May to $398,300. The median price also declined 2.7% from a year earlier.
Builder price reductions contributed to the decline. A greater share of sales in the more affordable Midwest also affected the overall price mix.
New-home sales increased 2.6% in the Midwest during the first six months of the year. Sales declined in the other three regions. They fell 4.7% in the Northeast, 4.9% in the South and 10.1% in the West.