# New-home inventory runs at 9.3 months of supply against 4.6 months for existing homes > Census counts 485,000 new houses for sale at the end of June against a sales pace of 628,000 a year. Two thirds of that inventory sits in the South. For a coordinator, a builder with nine months of standing stock is a different client from a seller with a listing. **Section:** The Desk **Published:** August 19, 2026 **Byline:** TC Bulletin Staff **Canonical URL:** https://tcbulletin.com/desk/new-home-inventory-9-3-months-against-4-6 **Publisher:** TC Bulletin (tcbulletin.com) ## Key points - Census and HUD put new single-family sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 628,000 in June 2026, with 485,000 new houses for sale at the end of the month, a supply of 9.3 months at the current sales rate. - NAR put existing-home inventory at 1.54 million units in July 2026, a 4.6-month supply. New construction carries roughly double the months of supply of the resale market. - The South accounted for 412,000 of the 628,000 annualised new-home sales in June, about 66%. The West accounted for 104,000, down 22.4% month over month, a decline large enough to clear the release's stated confidence interval. - The median new-home sale price was $398,300 in June, below NAR's $434,100 median for existing homes in July. The two figures come from different surveys and different months. - Census states it takes four months to establish a trend for new houses sold, and that preliminary seasonally adjusted total sales estimates are revised by about 5.0% on average. --- The resale market and the new-construction market are running at different speeds, and the gap shows up most clearly in how long the stock sits. Census and HUD reported 485,000 new single-family houses for sale at the end of June 2026 against an annualised sales pace of 628,000, a supply of 9.3 months. NAR's July figures put existing homes at 1.54 million units and 4.6 months. A builder holding nine months of finished and unfinished stock behaves differently from a homeowner with a listing. The incentives, the concessions, the willingness to pay closing costs and the pressure to move a specific unit before quarter end all follow from that overhang, and all of them land on the file a coordinator is running. ### The two markets, side by side | Measure | Value | Note | | --- | --- | --- | | New homes, months' supply | 9.3 | June 2026. Census and HUD | | Existing homes, months' supply | 4.6 | July 2026. NAR | | New homes for sale | 485,000 | Seasonally adjusted, end of June 2026 | | Existing homes for sale | 1.54 million | July 2026, down 0.6% year over year | | New-home sales pace | 628,000 | Seasonally adjusted annual rate, June 2026 | | Existing-home sales pace | 4.06 million | Seasonally adjusted annual rate, July 2026 | ## Where the new-build work is New construction is far more geographically concentrated than the resale market. Of the 628,000 annualised new-home sales Census recorded in June, 412,000 were in the South, about 66%. The Midwest accounted for 83,000, the West for 104,000 and the Northeast for 29,000. The Western figure fell 22.4% from May, with a stated 90 percent confidence interval of plus or minus 19.0 percentage points. Because that range does not contain zero, the decline is statistically significant on Census's own test, which is unusual for a single month in this series. > **Read this series with its error bars.** Census prints confidence intervals and marks changes that fail the test. The 1.6% monthly rise in total new-home sales carries a range of plus or minus 14.8 percentage points and is not statistically significant. The release also states that it takes four months to establish a trend for new houses sold, and that preliminary seasonally adjusted total sales are revised by about 5.0% on average. A coordinator should treat the level as usable and a single month's move as noise unless Census marks it otherwise. ## The price lines have crossed Census put the median new-home sale price at $398,300 in June 2026, down 3.3% from May and down 2.7% from June 2025. NAR put the median existing-home price at $434,100 in July 2026, up 2.0% year over year and the 37th consecutive month of annual increases. The two figures are not directly comparable. They come from different surveys, cover different months, and the Census median reflects the mix of house sizes and regions builders happened to sell, which shifts as builders move toward smaller units. What the pair does show is a resale market setting price records while the new-build median falls, which is consistent with builders discounting into a nine-month overhang. ## What a builder file needs that a resale file does not - A contract the builder drafted rather than a state or association form. TC Bulletin has covered Colorado's new requirement, effective 12 August 2026, that a broker advise a consumer to seek legal advice before signing a purchase contract created by a principal such as a home builder. - A closing date that moves with construction rather than with financing, and a coordinator's deadline calendar that can absorb that without cascading errors. - Concession and incentive terms that sit outside the purchase price, including rate buydowns paid by the builder, which change what appears on the settlement statement. - A different counterparty rhythm. Builder closing departments run on volume and quarter ends, which is a different escalation path from a listing agent. New-home sales at 628,000 against existing sales at 4.06 million put new construction at roughly 13% of the combined pace. In the South, where two thirds of new-home sales occur, that share is materially higher, and a coordinator working Texas, Florida, Georgia or the Carolinas is more likely to meet builder files than the national figure implies. ### Primary sources for this story - [Census Bureau and HUD, Monthly New Residential Sales, June 2026](https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales.pdf): Release CB26-121, 24 July 2026. Regional table, months' supply, revision and trend notes - [Census Bureau, New Residential Sales](https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/): Release schedule and full tables. July data due 25 August 2026 - [NAR, Existing-Home Sales report for July 2026](https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-existing-home-sales-report-shows-1-7-decrease-in-july): Existing inventory, months' supply and median price. Released 11 August 2026 - [TC Bulletin on Colorado's advice requirement for builder contracts](https://tcbulletin.com/desk/colorado-position-20-reaps-revised-august-2026) --- ## Sources cited - Census Bureau and HUD, New Residential Sales: https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/pdf/newressales.pdf - NAR Existing-Home Sales, July 2026: https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/nar-existing-home-sales-report-shows-1-7-decrease-in-july Topics: market-volume TC Bulletin publishes independent trade coverage of the transaction coordination profession. Reuse is permitted with attribution and a link to the canonical URL above. See https://tcbulletin.com/syndication.