Home prices are back at 2017 levels after builders slash prices under record-low sales

Homebuilders are now selling homes at effective prices not seen since 2017, after years of record-low existing home sales and collapsing affordability. From 2023 to 2025, annual existing home sales sank to their lowest levels since 1995, despite a U.S. population 25% larger today. Home price appreciation has stalled, and pandemic-era affordability gains have fully reversed. To clear inventory, builders like Lennar have rolled out heavy incentives, discounting sale prices so deeply that the net cost of a new home now matches 2017 levels. The residential real estate market, valued at $55 trillion, has become a drag on GDP growth and consumer sentiment. With no sustained recovery in housing or homebuilder equities expected before 2026, the sector will continue generating negative headlines and weighing on the broader economy.