According to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, newly built single-family home sales rose 1.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000.
“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 the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “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.”
“The pace of new home sales has remained constrained in recent months by elevated mortgage rates,” said Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (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.”
