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Fortune
Fortune
Catherina Gioino

It's now cheaper to buy a new home than a used one, thanks to builder incentives and baby boomers who don't want to sell on the low

(Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

For the first time since at least 1974, new homes are selling for less than existing ones, and the culprit is a mix of builders getting generous and sellers refusing to budge.

In the first quarter of 2026, the median price of a new single-family home was $403,200—$1,400 below the median existing home price of $404,600, according to data sent to Fortune by the National Association of Home Builders, drawing on Census Bureau and NAR figures.

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