Price cuts lift new-home sales to the year’s fastest pace

Sales of new single-family homes rose 6.4% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000, the Census Bureau said Thursday. That was the fastest pace this year and well above the roughly 615,000 economists expected, though still 2.0% below August 2025.

Builders paid for the sales with lower prices. The median new home sold for $393,700, down 5.8% from a year earlier and $35,400 below the median existing home.

Supply eased slightly. There were 483,000 new homes for sale, 8.5 months’ worth at the current pace, down from 9.0 months in July.

New-home sales figures are volatile and often revised. The Census Bureau says it takes about four months of data to establish a trend.