New single-family home construction declined as builders continue to grapple with macroeconomic headwinds. 

Purchase applications slowed to their lowest level since May as economic worries dampened activity, the Mortgage Bankers Association said. 

May’s 1.8% monthly gain follows a 6.3% drop in April, the National Association of REALTORS® said. 

The pace of home-price appreciation slowed to its most modest pace since 2023, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. 

The median-sales price for an existing home rose 1.3% year over year to $422,800. 

Nationally, home sales slid 3.5% year over year but rose 8.6% month over month, RE/MAX said. 

Buyers were willing to pay $1,597 more for a home with an olive-green kitchen, and navy-blue bedrooms boosted a home’s value by $1,815.

Homebuilder sentiment recently reached its third-lowest level since 2012. 

The Mortgage Bankers Association said the post-Memorial Day increase came despite economic uncertainty and largely static interest rates. 

T3 Sixty said the difference between real estate agents who subscribe to MLSs but are not Realtors and Realtor-subscribers hit 25%, the highest on record. 

The Northeast and Midwest remained strong, while Florida, which saw a major runup in prices in recent years, continued to cool. 

The 6.3% month-over-month decline was the steepest the U.S. market has seen since September 2022. 

In Denver, home prices rose 1.35% year over year and 1.08% month over month in March. 

New data released by CoreLogic/Cotality, and examined by noted industry researcher Mike DelPrete, contradicts this commonly held notion, however, and shows that the ratio is actually closer to 65/20.  

Nationally, home sales slid 1.4% year over year but increased 11.3% month over month, RE/MAX said. 

The association noted, however, that 90% of the responses to its survey tracking homebuilder sentiment were received before the announcement of a 90-day reprieve in U.S.-China tariffs.