National + Finance | August 23, 2022

Sales of New Homes Decline 12.6% in July; Prices Continue Increasing

Sales of new single‐family houses in July 2022 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000, according to estimates released jointly Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. That’s 12.6% below the revised June rate of 585,000 and is down 29.6% from a year ago, representing the lowest monthly level since January 2016.

Conversely, the median sales price of new houses sold in July was $439,400, an 8.2% increase from July 2021. The average sales price was $546,800.

Reuters cited affordability and high mortgage rates as factors undermining the market for new homes. “The housing market has been the sector hardest hit by the aggressive interest rate increases delivered by the Federal Reserve to tame inflation,” reported Reuters. “The report from the Commerce Department on Tuesday added to a stream of weak housing data.”

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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