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

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.

It marks the fourth consecutive quarter in which existing home prices have exceeded new home prices, a streak that began in the second quarter of 2024. Typically, new homes carry a premium over existing ones. That premium, which has averaged 16% going back to 1987, fell to -2% as of April 2026—the first time it has gone negative in data stretching back five decades, according to John Burns Research & Consulting.

But Alex Thomas, research manager on the macro team at John Burns, said it points to old fashioned supply and demand.

“There’s a lot that goes into that data point that is, like, some of it is an artifact of methodology, but there’s some truth to it as well,” he told Fortune.

A changing home build

Builders have been shrinking what they build. The median size of a new home sold has contracted to around 2,400 square feet, down from roughly 2,500 in 2022 and 2,700 in the mid-2010s. Smaller homes mean lower prices—and that alone accounts for part........

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