Two national counts from the U.S. Census Bureau give context to our listing videos: how many newly built houses sold in a month, and how many housing units exist in the country. This page lists both exactly as published and explains what each one counts. Details of any listing live on that listing's own page, not here.
New houses sold, August 2026
These figures come from the New Residential Sales survey, which Census runs jointly with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Census publishes them in thousands of houses, and we show them the same way.
- · New single-family houses sold in the United States in August 2026: 57 thousand
- · New single-family houses for sale at the end of August 2026: 487 thousand
Both figures are not seasonally adjusted and are labeled preliminary.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, New Residential Sales · August 2026, preliminary · released Sep 24, 2026.
What counts as a sale
Census counts a new house as sold when a deposit is taken or a sales agreement is signed, not when the sale closes. That means a sale can be counted before construction starts, and even before a building permit is issued. The for-sale count includes houses that are finished, houses still under construction, and houses not yet started.
Because the survey is based on a sample, Census revises recent months in later releases, which is why August carries the preliminary label. News coverage often quotes a seasonally adjusted annual figure for new-home sales instead. That is a different presentation of the same survey, and it is not the count for a single month.
The housing inventory, second quarter of 2026
In Census terms, the housing inventory is every housing unit in the country, occupied or not. It is not the number of homes on the market. These estimates come from the Housing Vacancy Survey, part of the Current Population Survey, and are published in thousands of units.
- · All housing units: 149,454 thousand
- · Occupied: 133,811 thousand
- · Vacant: 15,643 thousand
- · Vacant year-round units offered for sale only: 1,019 thousand
Occupied plus vacant equals the total.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey/Housing Vacancy Survey, Table 8 · second quarter 2026 · released Jul 28, 2026.
What occupied and vacant mean
A unit is occupied when someone lives there as their usual home. It is vacant when no one lives there at the time of the survey interview. That vacant group is broad: it includes units for rent, units for sale, units already rented or sold but not yet moved into, homes held for seasonal or occasional use, and homes occupied only by people whose usual home is somewhere else.
Two different kinds of inventory
The new-home for-sale count covers newly built single-family houses only. The vacant for-sale count from the housing survey covers existing units that are empty and offered for sale. Neither one is the number of homes listed for sale, and because they come from different surveys, they should not be added together.
Where to go next
The Sources list below links each publisher's page. How to read our housing charts explains the source line on every chart, and our property search is open whenever you want to look at homes.