High Prices Deter Interest in New Homes
Rising home prices are causing prospective home buyers to reexamine their interest in new homes, according to the latest survey results from NAHB’s latest Housing Trends Report.
In the first quarter of 2018, only 15% of prospective buyers were looking for a newly built home. The onset of COVID-19 propelled that share up to 42% by the final quarter of 2020, but strong gains in new home prices have driven it down for the last three quarters, reaching 32% in the third quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, the share of buyers who are ambivalent between new or existing construction has gone from 27% to 34% during this period.
Regionally, the share of buyers who would prefer a newly built home declined dramatically between the first and third quarters of 2021 in the Northeast (60% to 34%) and the West (51% to 39%). In the Midwest, the share peaked in the final quarter of 2020 at 27%, fell to 19% by the second quarter of 2020, but then rose slightly in third quarter to 21%. A more consistent 30% to 33% of buyers in the South have preferred a new home in the past five quarters.
Rose Quint, NAHB assistant vice president for survey research, provides more insight in this post from Eye on Housing.
Latest from NAHBNow
Advocacy | Economics
Jul 09, 2025
Trump Extends Tariff Deadline to Aug. 1, Adds 50% Tariff to CopperPresident Trump has announced he will extend the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs that was due to end on July 9 for another three weeks until Aug. 1 and impose a 50% tariff on copper.
Economics | Multifamily
Jul 08, 2025
Multifamily Completions Climb Near a 40-Year HighMultifamily units completed reached 608,000 in 2024 — their highest level since 1986, according to NAHB analysis of the Census Bureau’s Survey of Construction. Most were high-density buildings comprising 50 or more units.
Latest Economic News
Economics
Jul 09, 2025
Mortgage Applications Picked Up in June as Rates EasedMortgage application activity picked up in June, supported by a slight decline in interest rates. The Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Market Composite Index, which tracks mortgage application volume, rose 5.4% from May on a seasonally adjusted basis. Compared to June 2024, total applications were up 21.1%.
Economics
Jul 09, 2025
Who’s Still Working from Home in 2025? A Look at America’s Telework TrendsRemote work may no longer dominate the U.S. labor force as it did during the height of the pandemic in 2020, but it still represents a substantial share of employment today.
Economics
Jul 08, 2025
Top Ten Builder Share Rises Again in 2024The top ten builders captured a record 44.7% of all new U.S. single-family home closings in 2024, up 2.4 percentage points from 2023 (42.3%).