Continuing their upward trend from June, newly built home sales rose in July. Nationwide, 739,000 new single-family homes were sold in July, a 10.6% increase from June and a 5.6% rise from July 2023, according to housing market platform Zillow. This is likely due to a drop in prices. In July, the median price of new homes was $429,800, down 1.4% from a year ago. About 31% of builders lowered prices in July—up from 29% in June—with an average price cut of 6%. Additionally, 61% of builders offered incentives to buyers. These incentives paired with growing inventoryare helping more buyers afford homes.
Although builder confidence continues to wane, persistent affordability challenges mean that many buyers are increasingly turning to new construction. This is because newly built homes are now cheaper by the square foot than existing homes in many major markets, according to Zillow data.
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