GLOPRAGlobal Property Radar

US new home sales at 676,000 in September 2026, median price $400,400

US new single-family home sales ran at 676,000 a year in September 2026 with 8.4 months of supply, handing buyers the stronger negotiating position.

The facts

  • New single-family home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 676,000 in September 2026, the US Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reported on 27 October in release CB26-174.
  • That rate sits 0.6 percent, with a confidence range of plus or minus 13.8 percent, below the August 2026 rate of 680,000.
  • Against September 2025 the rate is 5.3 percent lower, with a range of plus or minus 12.5 percent, from 714,000.
  • The median sale price was $400,400 and the average $472,800.
  • Some 476,000 new houses were for sale at the end of September, equal to 8.4 months of supply at the current pace.

What it means for your money

  • Supply at 8.4 months favours the buyer. With 476,000 new homes unsold, the pressure to discount sits with the builder.
  • The median at $400,400 cuts both ways for an entrant: it is 3.9 percent above August but 3.9 percent below September 2025, so the direction depends on which horizon the purchase is priced against.
  • Glopra data put US transaction costs at 6.9 percent of price and the national average home at $369,678, so the new-build median of $400,400 sits above the average dwelling before any purchase costs are added.
  • Owners planning to resell compete with that unsold inventory, because a builder with 476,000 units on the books can offer rate buydowns and upgrades that a private seller cannot match.

What to watch

  • Both the monthly and annual changes carry confidence ranges wider than the changes themselves, so a single month settles little; the October release is scheduled for 25 November 2026.
  • Months of supply is the cleaner signal than the sales rate, because it moves with inventory as well as demand.
  • The gap between the median and average price, $400,400 against $472,800, shows how much of the market sits in the upper tier, which is where discounting usually starts.

Sources: US Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/construction/nrs/current/index.html; US Census Bureau https://www.census.gov/construction/soc/schedule.html

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