New Home Sales
New home sales measure the annualized pace of newly built single-family homes sold, counted at contract signing rather than closing. Collected jointly by the Census Bureau and HUD and reported in thousands at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, it covers only about 10-15% of total sales but reads ahead of existing sales because it captures fresh demand.
Latest reading
As of April 2026, New Home Sales (New home sales (SAAR)) stands at 622 — down from 682 the prior reading. Above 900K annualized is bubble-era strong; 500K-700K is a healthy, moderate market, and below 400K is recessionary. The series is notoriously volatile on its small sample, so the 3-month average is the read to trust. Watch months of supply — above 6 favors buyers, below 4 favors sellers — and expect this print to move homebuilder stocks on release. Series history runs from 1993 to present.
New home sales (SAAR)
Next release: Jun 24, 2026
Full history
How to read it
Above 900K annualized is bubble-era strong; 500K-700K is a healthy, moderate market, and below 400K is recessionary. The series is notoriously volatile on its small sample, so the 3-month average is the read to trust. Watch months of supply — above 6 favors buyers, below 4 favors sellers — and expect this print to move homebuilder stocks on release.
Methodology & data
New Home Sales is sourced from Census via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (US Census Bureau / HUD via FRED (HSN1F), monthly, seasonally adjusted annual rate). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-06-09. See our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
- Category
- Housing
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Source
- Census
Related indicators
Frequently asked questions
What is the New Home Sales?
New home sales measure the annualized pace of newly built single-family homes sold, counted at contract signing rather than closing. Collected jointly by the Census Bureau and HUD and reported in thousands at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, it covers only about 10-15% of total sales but reads ahead of existing sales because it captures fresh demand.
How do you read New Home Sales?
Above 900K annualized is bubble-era strong; 500K-700K is a healthy, moderate market, and below 400K is recessionary. The series is notoriously volatile on its small sample, so the 3-month average is the read to trust. Watch months of supply — above 6 favors buyers, below 4 favors sellers — and expect this print to move homebuilder stocks on release.
Where does the New Home Sales data come from?
US Census Bureau / HUD via FRED (HSN1F), monthly, seasonally adjusted annual rate. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/new-home-sales.csv.
How often is New Home Sales updated?
New Home Sales is a monthly series from Census, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.