According to the quarterly Housing Trends Report, the popularity of new construction homes is continuing to rebound after bottoming out in the first quarter of 2022. After less than 20% of prospective buyers expressed interest in looking for new construction homes in the first quarter, the share of buyers has increased in each of the past two quarters of 2022, rising to 27% in the third quarter. The Housing Trends Report, created by the NAHB Economics team, aims to measure buyer perceptions about the availability and affordability of homes for-sale in their markets on a quarterly basis.
The share of buyers looking for new construction rose to 21% and 27% in the second and third quarters of the year, respectively. A possible factor behind this trend is that the inventory of new homes for-sale is 25% higher than a year ago, while the supply of existing homes on the market is unchanged.
The recent increase in interest for new homes is countrywide. From the second to the third quarters of 2022, the share of prospective buyers looking to purchase a new home rose in all four regions: Northeast (18% to 27%), Midwest (12% to 18%), South (20% to 26%), and West (30% to 31%).
