Land Subdivision NAICS 237210

May 7, 2026 - New Homes Sales Rise

• New single-family home sales rose 7.4% month-over-month and were up 3.3% year-over-year in March 2026, according to the US Census Bureau. March’s total new home sales reached an unadjusted 682,000 units. Easing home prices and more selection at the lower end of the market helped some homebuyers cope with continued affordability headwinds, according to the National Association of Home Builders. The median new home sales price was $387,400 in March 2026, down from $412,900 a year earlier. Inventories of unsold new homes are also moving lower. New home inventories totaled 481,000 units in March, down 0.4% from February and 4.6% compared to March 2025.
• US residential construction is weakening in 2026, with single-family spending projected to fall 2% as elevated mortgage rates, affordability constraints, and limited housing turnover weigh on demand, according to FMI’s second-quarter 2026 North American Engineering and Construction Outlook. Builders are sustaining volumes through incentives and smaller homes, but these strategies reduce total spending. Multifamily spending is expected to decline 1% in 2026, though the segment is stabilizing after a sharp downturn in 2024. Apartment starts have begun to recover, signaling improving momentum, but a large pipeline of project deliveries is keeping near-term spending subdued. Vacancy pressures and financing constraints continue to limit new multifamily development, while activity shifts toward adaptive reuse and mixed-income projects.

• US retail construction has fallen to historic lows even as investor demand surges, according to Bisnow. CBRE reported 4.7 million square feet of completions nationwide last quarter, the lowest since CBRE began tracking retail construction completions in 2005. High costs and labor shortages have pressured retail construction. Availability rose 10 basis points to 4.9% in Q1 2026 despite 1.7 million square feet of positive net absorption, as bankruptcies added space back to the market. New development is concentrated in the Sun Belt, led by Phoenix, followed by Dallas, San Antonio, Houston, and Bakersfield, California. Neighborhood and strip centers drove absorption. Meanwhile, institutional investment is accelerating, with major deals and funds targeting retail assets, and US retail property sales volume reaching $66.8 billion in 2025, up 35% year over year.
• The US hotel construction pipeline totaled 6,020 projects and 705,825 rooms in Q1 2026, down roughly 5% from Q1 2025, according to Lodging Econometrics, and reporting by Hotel Dive. Despite the overall decline, the luxury segment hit a record 102 hotels, up 16% year over year, and hotel conversions rose 3% to 1,461 projects. High debt costs in 2025 and the completion of projects tied to events such as the FIFA World Cup contributed to pipeline shrinkage. Dallas led all markets with 184 projects, followed by Atlanta, Phoenix, Nashville, and Austin. Phoenix is forecast to see the most hotel openings in 2026, with 27, ahead of New York and Dallas. Upscale, upper midscale, and midscale segments accounted for 75% of pipeline projects. Lodging Econometrics forecasts 682 new hotels with 77,323 rooms will open in 2026, a 1.4% year-over-year increase.