Amid high mortgage rates and difficult affordability new home sales are at their weakest since March. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau, the sales of newly built, single-family homes in August dipped 8.7% to a 675,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate.

 

In August, new single-family home inventory was 436,000 and down 5.2 percent compared to the year prior.

"Builders continue to grapple with supply-side concerns in a market with poor levels of housing affordability," said Alicia Huey, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), "Higher interest rates price out demand, as seen in August, but also increase the cost of financing for builder and developer loans, adding another hurdle for building."

The median new home sale price was $430,000 in August and down 2% from a year ago. On a year-to-date basis, new home sales are up 4.8% in the Northeast, 4.4% in the Midwest and 1.9% in the South while new home sales are down 0.5% in the West.