Homebuyers look to new builds as fewer owners sell
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.


The market for newly built homes is thriving as fewer homeowners want to sell.
Why it matters: With U.S. mortgage rates at a 22-year high, golden handcuffs are locking up the nation's housing inventory. That's fueling buyers' appetite for new builds, according to real estate experts.
The big picture: Sales of existing U.S. homes — the majority of houses sold nationally — slid 19% from a year earlier, while new home sales soared 24%, per June figures.
Zoom in: The number of new homes sold in the South rose 21.4% in June compared to a year earlier, per U.S. Census data.
- Meanwhile, existing home sales fell 16.2% during that time, according to regional figures from the National Association of Realtors.
- The median price in the South this July was $366,200, up 1.7% from July 2022.
State of play: The new-build boost comes after rising interest rates curbed pandemic-driven homebuying demand.
- Builder confidence is now at its highest level since June 2022 after declining every month last year, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
What they're saying: Miami-based Lennar, the second-biggest homebuilder in the U.S., closed on 68,817 homes in 2022, according to Builder magazine.
- In a quarterly earnings call in June, executive chairman Stuart Miller said prospective buyers had accepted a "new normal" of higher rates, per Barron's.
What we're watching: Some builders are now offering smaller, more affordable houses to lure first-time buyers, Axios' Matt Phillips reports.
Go deeper: Old houses now cost as much as new houses

