By National Association of Home Builders
High mortgage rates, rising construction costs and economic uncertainty continue to deter many potential home buyers during this summer season.
Sales of newly built single-family homes edged 0.6% lower in July, falling to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 652,000 from an upwardly revised reading in June, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The pace of new home sales is down 8.2% from a year earlier.
“Elevated mortgage rates and ongoing economic uncertainty are weighing heavily on buyer demand,” said Buddy Hughes, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder and developer from Lexington, N.C. “Meanwhile, an elevated inventory of unsold homes, fueled by lagging sales, is prompting concerns over potential cutbacks in new construction.”
