New Home Sales Down While More Properties Sit On The Market Longer

Sales of new single-family houses in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 617,000, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

June’s activity rate was 0.6% below the revised May rate of 621,000 and is 7.4% below the June 2023 estimate of 666,000. The activity rate is the lowest recorded since last November.

The median sales price of new houses sold in June was $417,300 and the average sales price was $487,200. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of June was 476,000, which represents a supply of 9.3 months at the current sales rate.

And not only is sales activity slowing, but it is also taking longer for homes to sell. A new data report from Redfin (NASDAQ:RDFN) found nearly two-thirds (64.7%) of homes that were on the market in June had been listed for at least 30 days without going under contract – that’s up from 59.6% in June 2023, the biggest annual increase in a year and the highest share of any June since 2020.

Redfin added that June was the fourth straight month in which the portion of homes sitting on the market for at least one month ticked up on a year-over-year basis.