Housing inventory

More homes nationwide went under contract in April compared to last spring, while inventory growth, while cooler, is returning to average historical levels.

Sales of previously owned US homes barely rose in April from a nine-month low, underscoring a sluggish housing market at the start of the spring-selling season. 

The venture, supported by Blackstone affiliate Brio Homebuilder Solutions, aims to help build more than 50,000 homes annually so they can be sold to the public, the investment giant said in a statement Monday.

The pickup in sales suggests a gradual improvement in affordability since the middle of last year is slowly generating more demand.

Builder mortgage units saw Q1 profit slides (NVR down 17%) despite an 11% rise in new home loan applications. Overall homebuilder net income dropped, and sales incentives remain high.

March home sales increased 31.6% from February, the largest month-over-month jump since 37.4% in 2023, according to Remax's latest national housing report.

Developers including D.R. Horton Inc., Lennar Corp. and KB Home all missed expectations last quarter and estimates suggest both sales and earnings have fallen further as conflict in the Middle East unsettled buyers and raised costs.

About 43% of Americans upgraded their homes last year, and 33% plan to remodel in the next year, according to a recent survey from Redfin.

The war in the Middle East is adding to a slew of challenges already facing the construction industry in recent years, including elevated mortgage rates, labor constraints and higher prices for materials.

The US has a shortage of at least 10 million single-family homes, according to a new report from White House economists — a higher figure than some previous estimates from the government and the private sector.  

Mortgage rates rising nearly 40 basis points from early-year lows have pushed some buyers out of the market, even as inventory and affordability remain better than a year ago, ICE Mortgage Technology found.

Housing economists at ICE Experience 2026 predict mortgage growth but also say the home finance industry has yet to fully adapt to the disruption of this decade.

Pending sales of US existing homes unexpectedly rose in February for the first time in three months as buyers took advantage of lower mortgage rates and slower price growth.

Housing starts increased 7.2% to an annual pace of 1.49 million homes in January, according to government figures out Thursday.

Contract closings increased 1.7% to a 4.09 million annualized rate, according to National Association of Realtors data released Tuesday.

Active listings grew 7.9% year over year in February, but just 0.2% month over month, reaching more than 914,000 homes on the market, according to Realtor.com.

New residential construction in the US rose to a five-month high in December, as homebuilders boosted production to take advantage of lower borrowing costs.

Large and mega investors accounted for 5.8% of all single family-home purchases in December, up from 4.8% at the same time last year, according to Cotality.

An index of market conditions from the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo, in which below 50 means more builders see conditions as poor than good, edged down in February to 36, the lowest level since September.

Hartford, Connecticut, topped Zillow's list of the hottest housing markets this year on the back of its nation-leading home-price appreciation forecast.