U.S. New Home Sales Drop to a Three-Month Low in April
Summary
- Sales -6.2% m/m (-11.3% y/y) to 622,000 in Apr.; +3.4% m/m (+1.1% y/y) to 663,000 in Mar.
- Sales down m/m and y/y in the Midwest, Northeast, and South; up only in the West (+18.7% m/m, +4.6% y/y).
- Median sales price +8.0% m/m to $422,500, a 4-month high; avg. price +0.7% m/m to $508,800.
- Months' supply: 9.4 mths. in Apr., a 3-month high; 8.7 mths. in Mar.
New single-family home sales fell 6.2% m/m (-11.3% y/y) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 622,000 units in April—below expectations—following a downwardly revised 3.4% increase to 663,000 in March (initially +7.4%, 682,000) and an upwardly revised 11.3% gain to 641,000 in February (previously +8.9%, 635,000), according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected April sales of 665,000. April marked the first m/m fall in three months and the lowest level since January, while remaining 16.3% above the July 2022 low of 535,000. The April decline coincided with a rise in the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 6.33%, the highest since September 2025, from 6.18% in March, according to Freddie Mac. (Note: With the April 2026 release, the Census Bureau revised seasonal factors to the New Residential Sales series. SA data from January 2021 through March 2026 were revised; NSA data were not.)
Regionally, April new home sales declined m/m and y/y in all major regions except the West. Sales in the Midwest plunged 25.0% (-21.4% y/y) to 66,000 in April, the first m/m fall in three months and the lowest level since March 2025, reversing a 6.0% rise to 88,000 in March. Sales in the Northeast dropped 12.9% (-12.9% y/y) to 27,000, the third m/m decline in four months, following a 72.2% March surge to 31,000. Sales in the South slid 9.8% (-14.7% y/y) to 370,000, the first m/m slide since January and a three-month low, after a 3.3% March increase to 410,000. In contrast, sales in the West jumped 18.7% (4.6% y/y) to 159,000, the highest level since December, following a 6.3% March decrease to 134,000. Notably, the South remained the dominant region, accounting for 59.5% of total U.S. new home sales.
The median sales price of a new home rose 8.0% (2.2% y/y) to $422,500 in April, the first m/m rise in four months and the highest level since December, after a 5.1% drop to $391,100 in March. The median sales price was 8.2% below its record high of $460,300 in October 2022. The average sales price of a new home increased 0.7% (-1.1% y/y) to $508,800 following a 3.4% March decline to $505,200. The average price was 6.0% below a high of $541,200 in July 2022. These sales price data are not seasonally adjusted.
The number of unsold new homes on the market rebounded 1.7% (-2.2% y/y) to 489,000 in April, the highest level since October 2025, after a 1.0% decline to 481,000 in March. The latest figure was 15.3% above a low of 424,000 in May 2023. The seasonally adjusted months' supply of new homes for sale rose to 9.4 months in April, a three-month high, from 8.7 months in March. The latest reading, while above a low of 6.9 months in May 2023, remained below a high of 10.3 months in July 2022.
The median number of months a new home stayed on the market increased to 3.6 months in April, the highest since August 2021, from 3.5 months in March. The latest number was above its record low of 1.5 months in September and October 2022 but well below a peak of 5.1 months in March 2021. These figures date back to January 1975.
New home sales are recorded when the sales contract is signed. New home sales activity and prices are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.
Winnie Tapasanun
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Winnie Tapasanun has been working for Haver Analytics since 2013. She has 20+ years of working in the financial services industry. As Vice President and Economic Analyst at Globicus International, Inc., a New York-based company specializing in macroeconomics and financial markets, Winnie oversaw the company’s business operations, managed financial and economic data, and wrote daily reports on macroeconomics and financial markets. Prior to working at Globicus, she was Investment Promotion Officer at the New York Office of the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) where she wrote monthly reports on the U.S. economic outlook, wrote reports on the outlook of key U.S. industries, and assisted investors on doing business and investment in Thailand. Prior to joining the BOI, she was Adjunct Professor teaching International Political Economy/International Relations at the City College of New York. Prior to her teaching experience at the CCNY, Winnie successfully completed internships at the United Nations. Winnie holds an MA Degree from Long Island University, New York. She also did graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York and doctoral requirements at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her areas of specialization are international political economy, macroeconomics, financial markets, political economy, international relations, and business development/business strategy. Her regional specialization includes, but not limited to, Southeast Asia and East Asia. Winnie is bilingual in English and Thai with competency in French. She loves to travel (~30 countries) to better understand each country’s unique economy, fascinating culture and people as well as the global economy as a whole.
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