Housing Supply
The supply side of the market: how many homes builders are starting, how fast new homes are selling, and how many months of inventory are on hand.
Latest data: September 2026
Housing starts
1,221K
Down 5.2% vs. last month
Annualized, September 2026
New-home sales
684K
Up 6.4% vs. last month
Annualized, August 2026
Months' supply of new homes
8.5 months
August 2026
Starts vs. a year ago
−7.4%
Sales vs. a year ago
−2.0%
Thousands of units, seasonally adjusted annual rate.
Time range
Housing starts & new-home sales
- Housing starts
- New-home sales
View as table
How long the new homes for sale would last at the current sales pace.
Time range
Months' supply of new homes
View as table
Reading the numbers
What it means for your clients
- At the current sales pace, the new homes on the market would sell out in 8.5 months. Around six months is often cited as balanced — less tilts toward sellers, more toward buyers.
- Starts count every new housing unit builders break ground on, including apartments; sales count newly built single-family homes only.
- All figures are seasonally adjusted annual rates, so a month's number shows the yearly pace if that month's activity held for twelve months.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units [HOUST], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HOUST
- U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, New One Family Houses Sold: United States [HSN1F], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; fred.stlouisfed.org/series/HSN1F
- U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Monthly Supply of New Houses in the United States [MSACSR], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSACSR
Data is refreshed several times a day as new releases are published. The Open Door is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis or any of the data publishers above. Figures are for informational purposes and aren't financial advice.