What the new home sales rate measures
The Census Bureau counts contracts signed to buy newly built single-family homes each month, from a survey of builders, and reports them as a seasonally adjusted annual rate in thousands. A sale is recorded when the contract is signed or a deposit is taken, even if the house has not been started yet. Existing homes, which are most of the market, are not included. Monthly estimates have wide error margins and are often revised, so trends over several months matter more than any single reading.
How to read this chart
New home sales are among the earliest housing signals because they are counted at contract, before construction or closing. A sustained rise usually leads to more housing starts; a decline warns that builders will cut back. Compare the line with mortgage rates: the biggest moves of the last decades followed sharp changes in borrowing costs.
The latest reading in context
- At 676K, the latest reading is above its 5-year average of 668K and below its 10-year average of 680K.
- Of all 765 monthly readings since January 1963, 60% were lower than today’s and 40% were higher.
- Direction: down 0.6% over the past month; up 2.6% over the past six months; down 5.3% over the past year.
- The highest value on record is 1,389K (July 2005, 21 years ago); the lowest is 270K (February 2011, 15 years ago).
- The full history spans 8 US recessions, shaded grey on the chart.
Why it matters
Each new home sold generates construction jobs, materials orders and spending on furniture and appliances, so new home sales carry more economic weight than resales of existing homes. Housing has turned down before most US recessions, which makes this series a useful early warning.
What moves the new home sales rate
- Mortgage rates and builders’ rate buydowns
- Supply of existing homes for sale, the main competition
- Household formation, jobs and incomes
- Land, labor and material costs, which set new home prices
Key moments in its history
- Jul 2005Peaked near 1.4 million a year at the height of the housing boom.
- Feb 2011Hit a record low of about 270,000 after the housing bust.
- 2020Topped 1 million as pandemic demand and record-low mortgage rates met.
- 2022–2023Held up better than resales as builders offered incentives and existing homeowners stayed put.
New Home Sales data tables
Average by decade
| Decade | Average | High | Low |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s (so far) | 704K | 1,031K | 535K |
| 2010s | 484K | 729K | 270K |
| 2000s | 901K | 1,389K | 336K |
| 1990s | 700K | 995K | 401K |
| 1980s | 610K | 880K | 338K |
| 1970s | 656K | 872K | 373K |
| 1960s | 512K | 665K | 358K |
Last 12 months
| Period | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | 676K | −0.6% |
| Aug 2026 | 680K | +5.1% |
| Jul 2026 | 647K | −4.9% |
| Jun 2026 | 680K | +6.9% |
| May 2026 | 636K | −0.8% |
| Apr 2026 | 641K | −2.7% |
| Mar 2026 | 659K | +4.6% |
| Feb 2026 | 630K | +9.4% |
| Jan 2026 | 576K | −20.3% |
| Dec 2025 | 723K | −4.5% |
| Nov 2025 | 757K | +16.1% |
| Oct 2025 | 652K | −8.7% |
Monthly values. Decade figures are averages of the monthly values in each decade. The complete history is available as a CSV file.
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New Home Sales: questions and answers
Why don’t new home sales include existing homes?
This survey covers only newly built homes. Sales of existing homes are reported separately by the National Association of Realtors and are several times larger.
What does “annual rate” mean?
The monthly number is seasonally adjusted and multiplied by twelve, so a reading of 700K means sales that month were on pace for 700,000 a year.
Why are the numbers revised so much?
The survey is based on a sample of builders, and late-reported contracts and cancellations change earlier months. Use three-month averages for a clearer picture.
Where does the data on this chart come from?
From the U.S. Census Bureau. ChartWidgets downloads the series (HSN1F) from FRED, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis database, and checks for new releases every day. The last update was on November 1, 2026.