Census Aug 2026: new-home sales 684k SAAR, 8.5 months’ supply. Price East Texas listings for new-construction competition.
The U.S. Census Bureau and HUD Monthly New Residential Sales release for August 2026 (CB26-155, September 24, 2026) put sales of new single-family houses at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 684,000. That is 6.4 percent above the revised July rate of 643,000, and 2.0 percent below August 2025’s 698,000. Census marks both of those percent changes with a confidence interval that includes zero—so treat the rebound as a direction signal, not a statistically locked trend.
Other August figures from the same release:
That is a national new-home sales print—not a report of On The Market Texas closed sales in East Texas. Still useful context if your listing competes with builder inventory.
New construction is still moving product. A higher SAAR after July’s soft print means buyers have another path besides your resale—especially when builders can adjust incentives.
Months’ supply eased to 8.5. Inventory of new homes for sale held flat at 483,000 while the sales pace picked up—less “stuck supply,” not a signal that pricing pressure vanished.
Price your local comps, not the national average. A $393,700 national new-home median is not Lufkin or Livingston. Use the Census print as mood, then win on condition, photos, and a defensible ask.
On The Market Texas is an East Texas real-estate lead site. Soft CTA: the homepage. We do not invent listing results as “our” sales.
Takeaway: Census’s September 24 release put August new-home sales at 684,000 SAAR with 8.5 months’ supply. Price existing homes for buyers who can also walk a model home—not for last month’s soft July headline alone.
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