Over the past six months, the U.S. housing market has beenshowing clear signs of cooling. More metro areas are experiencing pricedeclines, new construction activity is slowing, and builder confidence hasdropped sharply. While New England remains more stable than many regions, the broader national trends are worth watching closely.
PRICE DECLINES ARE SPREADING NATIONALLY
Of the 300 largest metro areas in the U.S., an increasing number are seeing property values drop over the past six months:
- January : 31 (10%)
- February : 42 (14%)
- March : 60 (20%)
- April : 80 (27%)
- May : 96 (32%)
- June: 110 (37%)
In some markets - particularly in Florida and Texas- prices are down 7–12% in just half a year. That’s a crash. Others, like Nashville and Seattle, have dipped less than 1%, but they still count toward the growing total.
Key takeaway: Price declines are no longer isolated—they’re accelerating nationwide.
NEW CONSTRUCTION SLOWS
Nationally, new housing activity is weakening:
- Building Permits : down 4%
- Completions : down 24%
Multifamily construction has struggled for years, but nowsingle-family housing is slowing too which is a new trend:
- Permits : Down 4%
- Starts: down 5%
- Completions: down 12%
According to Realtor.com’s Danielle Hale, 2 out of 5 homebuilders reported reducing house prices in June which is significant because builders prefer offering buyer incentives over cutting prices because price reductions lower comps for future projects. This means they’ve reached their last resort to get the properties to sell.
BUILDER CONFIDENCE TAKES A HIT
The national builder confidence index is now 33 (50 isneutral), meaning two out of three builders are pessimistic. Specifically, thesingle family builder index is dropping quickly:
- January 2025 sentiment : 59
- June 2025 sentiment : 43
That’s a steep, rapid decline in confidence.
NORTHEAST OUTLOOK
In the Northeast, builder confidence has dropped from 65 in January to 48—still the strongest in the country, but showing clear softening.
I don’t expect a Florida- or Texas-style crash here, but with fewer homes in the pipeline and limited state incentives for affordable housing, supply will stay tight.
Bottom line: Prices in New England are likely to stay flat or see modest gains—meaning our housing shortage isn’t going anywhere.
As a quick business update, at the end of May we closed on two properties, a 3 unit in Milford and a 6 unit in Manchester. The renovations on the 6 unit are complete and tenants are signed to leases at market rents with the exception of one unit. All 3 units in Milford are complete and we are in queue to the planning board to get a fourth unit added.
We also closed on three more buildings in Manchester at the end of July totaling 21 residential units and one commercial unit.
As always, we’re looking for 3-50 unit properties in Southern New Hampshire. If you know if anyone looking to sell, we’d love to talk to them.