The good news is inventory levels appear to be stabilizing. A 4.1 percent jump in new-home sales in August has offset a 5,000-unit swell in new-home inventory, edging down months of unsold new-home inventory from July levels. The bad news is that it will still take 6.6 months to burn through it, compared with 4.6 months a year ago.
Among the two biggest inhibitors to new-home sales right now are affordability—a function of interest rate rises and unsustainably high home prices—and weakness in existing home sales volume and pricing. So, we thought we’d delve into the inventory data and look at it in terms of what product types are going wanting for buyers in various markets. Understanding whether it’s entry-level or move-up level inventory that’s languishing will help you know whether the hurdle is more likely to be affordability or a contingency sale. This can affect both your product and your marketing message plans. Here’s a break out of how that inventory drill down looks for the past two quarters in 10 markets.
Source: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence
