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<\/a>\u201cThere are two housing markets today. Sales in the existing-home market are slow because of a lack of supply and high prices,\u201d says Zonda chief economist Ali Wolf. \u201cIn the new-home market, homes are unused, which helps justify the price, and builders are offering incentives to help with today\u2019s housing affordability challenges. As such, sales are down in the existing-home side and up in the new [home side].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 714,000 in July, 4.4% above the revised June rate of 684,000 and 31.5% higher than the July 2022 estimate of 543,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe number of homes for sale that have not yet been started rose 11.3% to 108,000, the highest level in survey history, suggesting housing starts could remain robust over the coming months if demand remains sufficient,\u201d says Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan. \u201cThe number of completed homes for sale also increased, rising 8.7% to 75,000, the highest level since April 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Census Bureau estimates, the median sales price of new houses sold in July was $436,700. The average sales price was $513,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor 17 months in a row, buyers have been able to select from an inventory of more than 400,000 new homes for sale nationwide, which is a high number historically,\u201d says Holden Lewis, home and mortgage expert at NerdWallet. \u201cAnd builders are responding to the home affordability crisis: In July, 40% of new houses were sold for less than $400,000. A year earlier, 33% cost less than $400,000.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 437,000, according to the Census Bureau and HUD. This represents a supply of 7.3 months at the current sales rate, down 0.2 months from June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe July report was in line with our expectation for new-home sales; however, given that mortgage rates have again risen above 7%, we believe the risk to new-home sales is to the downside,\u201d Duncan says. \u201cOf course, this may be partially offset as a rise in completed inventories may lead builders to offer more generous concessions to bolster demand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new-home inventory for sale remained above 400,000 for the 17th consecutive month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":59,"featured_media":227739,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2023-08-23T18:02:20Z","apple_news_api_id":"87dc950f-4842-40c2-8280-1c1f90ce659e","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2023-08-23T18:02:20Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/Ah9yVD0hCQMKCgBwfkM5lng","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11108],"tags":[11163,11320,11002],"coauthors":[11298],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n