The total supply of new homes rose to its highest level since 2008 in February, but new home sales across the U.S. decreased 2% to an annual rate of 772,000, Realtor.com reports. Builders are working quickly to reverse a major housing shortage and ease home price growth nationwide, but decades of underbuilding have left a substantial deficit to overcome.
In the meantime, average sales prices for a new home sold in February reached a new high of $511,000, while the median list price was $400,600. A boost in mortgage rates also threatens to price out a growing number of buyers glued to the sidelines as a result of limited inventory and a lack of affordability.
“With the median sales price of new homes up, and only roughly 1 in 10 new homes sold for less than $300,000 compared with 3 in 10 new homes in this price range last year, a new home is not an option for many first-time homebuyers even before the impact of higher mortgage rates is considered,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com.
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