Data: U.S. Census Bureau, National Association of Realtors; Chart: Axios Visuals
All the juice in the housing market in 2023 was in new home sales — and that's likely to continue this year.
Driving the news: New home sales rose 4.4% in December 2023, compared to the previous year, per census data out Thursday.
Sales were up 8% from November — likely helped along by falling mortgage rates.
Why it matters: Buyers are going where the houses are — and the deals, too.
Zoom in: While existing homeowners are sitting on their heels, homebuilders are itching to sell, offering plenty of incentives — including lower rates on mortgages.
Inventory of new homes is up. At the current sales rate, there's an 8-month supply of houses — meaning that's how long it would take to sell all the homes on the market. It's 3.2 months for existing homes.
And prices are down. They've been falling for months and were down 14% in December from last year.
Reality check: New homes are a relatively small part of the housing market overall — and in some areas of the country are hard to find.