The Number of Builders Offering Discounts to Increase Sales Dropped 7% in May

A deeper dive into the National Association Home Builders (NAHB) / Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) report shows that as the COVID-19 stay-in-place orders began to be lifted in May and June, that housing data almost immediately began to rebound. At the start of the pandemic, there were rumors circulating that home builders were lowering home prices to attract customers and to keep sales going. May’s HMI report indicated that in fact ~22% of builders nationwide did in fact cut prices on average 5% in April. This month’s report (June) indicated that only ~15% of builders lowered their prices in May and again by only 5%.  From a historical standpoint, in the midst of the last housing recession in March 2008, ~ 49% of all builders lowered their prices.