New Home Sales Up at the Start of 2024
Stable mortgage rates at the beginning of 2024 helped increase new home sales in January. Sales of newly built, single-family homes increased 1.5% last month to a 661,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The pace of new home sales in January is up 1.8% from a year ago.
A new home sale occurs when a sales contract is signed or a deposit is accepted. The home can be in any stage of construction: not yet started, under construction or completed. In addition to adjusting for seasonal effects, the January reading of 661,000 units is the number of homes that would sell if this pace continued for the next 12 months.
New single-family home inventory in January remained elevated at a level of 456,000, up 3.9% compared to a year earlier. This represents an 8.3-month supply at the current building pace. A measure near a six-month supply is considered balanced.
A year ago, there were 72,000 completed, ready-to-occupy homes available for sale (not seasonally adjusted). By the end of January 2024, that number increased 19.4% to 86,000.
However, completed, ready-to-occupy inventory remains at just 19% of the total inventory, while homes under construction account for 58% of the inventory. The remaining 23% of new homes sold in January were homes that had not started construction when the sales contract was signed.
NAHB Assistant Vice President for Forecasting and Analysis Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington provides more details, including regional data and home prices, in this Eye on Housing post.
Latest from NAHBNow
Aug 29, 2025
NAHB's Monthly Update Features Canadian Lumber Duties Talking PointsThe update provides the latest messaging framework to help members articulate housing priorities and latest news related to the Canadian lumber imports and builder sentiment.
Aug 28, 2025
Podcast: Congressional Priorities and the Trump Economy Heading into FallOn the latest episode of NAHB podcast Housing Developments, NAHB CEO Jim Tobin and COO Paul Lopez discuss how the rest of the year looks as Congress gets ready to return to Washington next week.
Latest Economic News
Aug 29, 2025
Multifamily Absorption Rises in the Second QuarterThe percentage of new apartment units that were absorbed within three months after completion rose in the second quarter, according to the Census Bureau’s latest release of the Survey of Market Absorption of New Multifamily Units (SOMA).
Aug 28, 2025
Mortgage Rates Move Lower, Hitting 10-Month LowAverage mortgage rates in August continued their steady decline and are now at their lowest rate since last November.
Aug 27, 2025
Wood-Framed Home Share Increased in 2024Wood framing continues to dominate the U.S. single-family home construction market, according to NAHB analysis of 2024 Census Bureau data.