Sales of newly built single-family homes fell 6.2% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 622,000, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, as the 2026 housing market remains sluggish overall. The pace of new-home sales is down 11.3% from a year earlier.
The report comes in after a slippage of housing starts in April. Starts were down 2.8% from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.47 million in April. Despite the month-over-month decline, April starts were up a robust 4.6% compared to April 2025’s rate of 1.4 million, signaling sustained builder activity relative to the prior year.
“New home sales had been steady as the inventory of existing homes remained limited in many markets and home builders were able to offer rate buydowns and other concessions to attract home shoppers,” said Bright MLS Chief Economist Lisa Sturtevant.
“But the housing market has become more challenging this spring. Overall home builder confidence has ticked up slightly, but builders are still concerned that home buyers are going to hold back amidst rising inflation concerns, higher mortgage rates, and the on-going uncertainty in the Middle East.
“The median price of new homes sold in April was up by 2.2% year-over-year. Like in the existing home market, the higher end of the market has been more resilient which has helped keep upward pressure on the median sold price.”
Bill Owens, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) added that although there are still signs of demand, many potential buyers are stepping back because of higher mortgage rates and gas prices.
“Builders continue to offer a range of sales incentives, but home sales have declined this year because income growth is not keeping pace with housing costs,” he said.
“New home sales are on track to decline in 2026 as mortgage rates are expected to remain elevated in the months ahead,” added NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “The Midwest remains a bright spot, with sales up 7.3% year to date, compared with declines in the rest of the country.”
Realtor.com® Senior Economist Joel Berner also noted that the number of completed homes for sale held basically steady month-over-month, but the number of unstarted homes for sale reached its highest level in at least a year.
“Builders are reining in spec building activity in the slower sales market and choosing to market plans to prospective buyers instead to guarantee buyers for the homes they build,” he said. “April was a disappointing month for new home sales after March showed so much promise. The malaise of home buyers seems to be pervasive in the market, leading to fewer transactions even as conditions favor those same buyers. Expect builders to continue to pull back on single family home construction if sales remain weak, and expect more price reductions and buyer incentives to be offered to sweeten the deal for reluctant buyers.”
A new-home sale occurs when a sales contract is signed, or a deposit is accepted. The home can be in any stage of construction: not yet started, under construction or completed. In addition to adjusting for seasonal effects, the April reading of 622,000 units is the number of homes that would sell if this pace continued for the next 12 months.
New single-family home inventory in April rose to 489,000 units, up 1.7% compared to the previous month. This represents an elevated 9.4 months’ supply at the current building pace.
The median new-home sale price was $422,500, up 8.0% from March and up 2.2% from a year ago. Completed, ready-to-occupy inventory accounted for 122,000 homes in April, up 6.1% from a year ago.
Regionally, on a year-to-date basis, new-home sales are up 7.3% in the Midwest. New-home sales are down 9.7% in the Northeast, 7.6% in the South and 9.5% in the West.
