Sales of newly constructed homes rebounded in February and March on a monthly and yearly basis, according to figures published Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department Housing and Urban Development.
The seasonally adjusted annualized pace of new-home sales rose nearly 9% from January to February, followed by a 7.4% uptick in March. The 682,000-unit March pace was roughly 3.3% higher than a year ago.
Builders’ backlog of completed inventory declined over the year in February and March as a consequence of the accelerated sales pace within a prolonged slowdown in new residential housing starts and permitting. High prices driving slow demand for new homes have caused many builders to scale back activity, though some sectors have shown resilience.
The median new home sold for $387,400 in March, about 5.3% below February levels and 6.2% lower from $412,900 a year earlier. The average sales price of new houses sold in March was $503,100, just 1.2% below year-ago prices.
By comparison, the median existing-home sales price rose 0.4% from February to March to $408,800, according to listings data reported by Realtor.com last week. Various housing market indicators tracked by the company’s platform show housing activity remained resilient in April despite economic volatility related to the Iran war, following the disappointing drop in existing-home sales in March.
While single-family housing starts fell annually from 2024 to 2025, the Census Bureau reported on April 29 that single-family housing starts jumped in March by nearly 10% from February’s pace. While permitting activity remains subdued, overall housing starts increased to slightly more than 1.5 million, a 10.8% gain on both a monthly and annual basis.
The government’s seasonally adjusted estimate of newly built homes for sale at the end of March was 481,000, about 0.4% below February estimates and 4.6% below year-ago levels.
That lowered the months’ supply of new-home inventory to 8.5 months, 6.6% lower than February’s estimate of 9.1 months and 7.6% lower than a year ago.
