• There were 590,000 new single-family home sales nationwide in November (SAAR), down 12.2% from October but up 1.3% from November 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• The median sales price of new houses sold in November was $488,900.
• The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of November was 451,000, a supply of 9.2 months at the current sales rate.

What happened: New home sales slid down in November after a strong few months. 

Why it matters: Despite mortgage rates falling in November, new home sales diverged from its previous upward trend and fell from last month. This comes as there was an increase in existing home sales, a bump in homebuilder confidence and an increase in housing starts – signals that pointed to new home sales remaining strong and influencing the much higher consensus than seen in the official data. Perhaps the slight increase in existing home inventory matched with rates floating off their peak, making an existing home more available and affordable, was enough to lure buyers away from the higher price tag of new homes. There are plenty of new homes still working through the construction pipeline and with starts on the rise, hopefully the steady flow of new construction homes continues to make its way to the market to help boost overall inventory and smooth out prices.