U.S. New Home Sales Gain in March and February After Two Monthly Declines
Summary
- Sales +7.4% m/m (+3.3% y/y) to 682,000 in Mar., a 3-month high; +8.9% m/m (-1.1% y/y) to 635,000 in Feb.
- Sales m/m up in the Northeast and South, down in the Midwest and West; sales y/y up in all regions except the West (-12.7% y/y).
- Median sales price -5.3% m/m to $387,400, lowest since Jul. ’21; avg. price -3.4% m/m to $503,100, lowest since Jul. ’25.
- Months' supply: 8.5 mths. in Mar., a 3-month low; 9.1 mths. in Feb.
New home sales data for March and February were released today to catch up from delays due to the federal government shutdown in October 2025. New single-family home sales rose 7.4% m/m (3.3% y/y) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 682,000 units in March—above expectations—following an 8.9% gain to 635,000 in February and a downwardly revised 19.9% drop to 583,000 in January (initially -17.6%, 587,000), according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had expected March sales of 655,000. March marked the second consecutive m/m increase after two straight m/m decline and the highest level since December, remaining 31.4% above the July 2022 low of 519,000. The March m/m sales gain occurred alongside an increase in the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to 6.18%, the highest in three months, up from 6.05% in February and 6.11% in January, according to Freddie Mac.
Regionally, March new home sales showed a mixed performance. Sales in the Northeast surged 80.0% (3.8% y/y) to 27,000 in March, the first m/m increase in three months and the largest since January 2024, reversing a 48.3% plunge in February. Sales in the South rose 11.1% (8.1% y/y) to 441,000, the highest level since November, following a 14.7% February advance and two successive m/m declines. In contrast, sales in the Midwest fell 5.0% (+11.8% y/y) to 76,000 after a 6.7% February rise, and sales in the West slid 3.5% (-12.7% y/y) to 138,000 following a 7.5% February gain; both posted the second m/m fall in three months. Notably, the South remained the dominant region, accounting for 64.7% of total U.S. new home sales.
The median sales price of a new home fell 5.3% (-6.2% y/y) to $387,400 in March—the sixth m/m decrease in seven months and the lowest level since July 2021—after declines of 0.9% to $409,000 in February and 3.8% to $412,900 in January. The median sales price was 15.8% below its record high of $460,300 in October 2022. The average sales price of a new home decreased 3.4% (-1.2% y/y) to $503,100, the lowest level since July 2025, following a 1.7% February increase to $521,000 and a 5.2% January drop to $512,200. The average price was 7.0% 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 slid 0.4% (-4.6% y/y) to 481,000 in March, the first m/m slide since December, after rises of 1.3% to 483,000 in February and 0.2% to 477,000 in January. The latest figure was 12.9% above a low of 426,000 in July 2023. The seasonally adjusted months' supply of new homes for sale fell to 8.5 months in March, a three-month low, from 9.1 months in February and 9.8 months in January. The latest reading, while above a low of 6.9 months in May 2023, remained below a high of 10.6 months in July 2022.
The median number of months a new home stayed on the market increased to 3.6 months in March, the highest since August 2021, from 3.3 months in February and 3.0 months in January. 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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