Homebuilder survey shows August demand weakened across US

Investing.com -- A monthly survey of homebuilders showed demand conditions deteriorated in August 2026, with sales, customer traffic and pricing all declining from the previous month.

The BTIG/HomeSphere Homebuilder Survey, which collected responses from 59 small- and mid-sized tract and custom homebuilders across the country, showed 19% of builders reported higher year-over-year sales in August. This marked the lowest level since November 2023 and dropped from 27% in July and 35% in June.

Builders reporting lower year-over-year sales rose to 42%, the highest percentage since November 2023.

Customer traffic followed a similar pattern. Only 20% of builders reported higher year-over-year traffic, the lowest reading since the start of the year and down from 33% in July. Builders reporting lower traffic increased to 37% from 23%.

Sales performance relative to builder expectations also weakened. Just 14% of builders reported better-than-expected sales, the lowest reading since December 2022, while 44% reported worse-than-expected sales, up from 29% in July.

Traffic relative to expectations showed a similar decline, with better-than-expected traffic falling to 14% from 31% in July, and worse-than-expected traffic rising to 34% from 29%.

On pricing, 30% of builders cut some or all base prices in August compared to 15% in July. The share of builders raising some, most or all base prices declined to 13% from 21% in July.

Incentive use increased, with 36% of builders raising some, most or all incentives in August versus 19% in July. The portion of builders leaving incentives unchanged fell to 46% from 56% in July.

Most builders in the survey commented on weak demand and affordability issues affecting the market.

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