by Calculated Risk on 9/28/2020 01:57:00 PM

As part of the new home sales report released last week, the Census Bureau reported the number of homes sold by price and the average and median prices.

From the Census Bureau: "The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2020 was $312,800. The average sales price was $369,000."

The following graph shows the median and average new home prices.

Click on graph for larger image.

During the housing bust, the builders had to build smaller and less expensive homes to compete with all the distressed sales.  When housing started to recovery - with limited finished lots in recovering areas - builders moved to higher price points to maximize profits.

The average price in August 2020 was $369,000, down 0.8% from July, and down 8.4% from the peak in 2017.  The median price was $312,800, down 4.6% from July, and down 8.9% from the peak in 2017.

The average and median house prices have mostly moved sideways since 2017 due to home builders offering more lower priced homes.

The second graph shows the percent of new homes sold by price.

Very few new homes sold were under $150K in August 2020 ("Less than 500 units" in August 2020, rounded down to zero).  This is down from 30% in 2002.  In general, the under $150K bracket is going away.   

The $400K+ bracket increased significantly since the housing recovery started, but has been holding steady recently - and declined over the last year.  A majority of new homes (about 66%) in the U.S., are in the $200K to $400K range.