“New-home sales are improving, but well below what’s needed,” Fleming said. “[The rate was] slightly below the consensus estimate, which was predicated on the fact that mortgage rates were declining in February, typically a boost to new-home sales.”
Fleming said that because of the ever-growing demand for housing, an increase of 676,000 homes in 2025 is not the same as it would have been 30 years ago due to the increase in demand.
“If new-home sales were tracking at the long-run average percentage of total households, then the pace of new-home sales would be almost 950,000,” he said.
New single-family home inventory rose to 500,000, a 7.5% increase compared to February 2024. That marks a supply of 8.9 months at the current building pace.
Meanwhile, the number of ready-to-occupy homes also increased year-over-year by 35% to 119,000, the highest amount of those home types on the market since the middle of 2009.
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