Interest for New Homes Strengthens

Higher interest rates have led millions of existing homeowners with mortgages under 4% to postpone plans to list their homes for sale, and for many prospective buyers, that supply vacuum has left newly built homes as the only game in town.  That is the backdrop behind the strengthening of interest for new homes.

According to the latest Housing Trends Report, between the final quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2023, the share of buyers looking to buy new construction rose from 20% to 25%.  In contrast, the share interested in existing homes dropped from 39% to 36%, while the share with no particular preference fell from 41% to 39%.

Interest for new homes is widespread.  Between the final quarter of 2022 and the second of 2023, all regions saw the share of buyers interested in new homes increase.  In the West in particular, the share jumped from 21% to 32%, followed by the Northeast (20% to 24%), the South (20% to 23%), and the Midwest (15% to 18%).

* Results come from the Housing Trends Report (HTR) – a research product created by the NAHB Economics team with the goal of measuring prospective home buyers’ perceptions about the availability and affordability of homes for-sale in their markets.  The HTR is produced quarterly to track changes in buyers’ perceptions over time.  All data are derived from national polls of representative samples of American adults conducted for NAHB by Morning Consult.  Results are seasonally adjusted.  A description of the poll’s methodology and sample characteristics can be found here. This is the second in a series of six posts highlighting results for the 2^nd quarter of 2023.  See previous post on plans to buy.