• There were 616,000 new home sales nationwide in December (SAAR), up 2.3% from November and down 26.6% from December 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• The median sales price of new houses sold in December was $442,100.
• The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 461,000, a supply of 9 months at the current sales rate.

The housing market cooled off during the fall and early winter of 2022, and new home sales followed suit with new sales lagging far behind 2021 and setting back closer to pre-pandemic levels. Home builders have been desperate to attract buyers, but, as of December, the relentless affordability crisis has dropped builder sentiment for twelve straight months. Builders are all but throwing incentives at buyers to attract them back to the new home market, but that doesn’t seem like  enough to combat high mortgage rates and prices. Even though both rates and prices fell in December, new home sales slipped further from the 2021 peak. The year ended with 16.4% fewer new homes sold than in 2021, showing how quickly the market can change along with rising affordability constraints. But January thus far has shown promise of offering a turning point in the market, with builder sentiment up, mortgage rates down, and mortgage applications picking up steam again, we might see the market thaw out before the spring shopping season sets up, which will hopefully translate into more construction to add much needed housing supply when it’s needed the most.