New home sales fell 7.3% in May

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1. New home sales fell 7.3% in May

New single-family home sales dropped to a 580,000 annual rate in May, well below economist expectations of 640,000 and the lowest pace since the start of the year.

• The West led the decline with a 26.9% drop, while the South — the nation's biggest homebuilding region — fell to 350,000, near a seven-year low.

Builders have been cutting prices and offering mortgage rate buydowns to keep buyers in the market, but 6.6% rates and resurgent inflation are proving too much. The median sales price edged up to $424,900, roughly flat year over year.

Supply tells the deeper story: 496,000 new homes sit unsold, representing 10.3 months of supply — matching the highest level since 2009. Builders are already pulling back on new construction to work through the backlog.

2. Mortgage payments hit a one-year high in May

The median monthly payment on a new purchase loan rose to $2,198 in May — up 2.1% from April and the highest level since last May — marking the third straight monthly increase.

Affordability declined in 33 states as rising rates and larger loan amounts pushed payments higher across all loan types. Conventional payments hit $2,211 and FHA payments jumped 2.4% to $1,873.

Payments are still below the $2,211 peak from May 2025, and MBA's affordability index remains better than a year ago. But the trend has been moving in the wrong direction for three straight months, with rates still hovering near last summer's highs.

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3. More Nuggets

🏘️ Homeowners tapped $47 billion in equity in the first quarter. (CNBC)

⚽️ World Cup tickets outpace mortgage payments. (NMP)

🚨 Fannie, Freddie boost risk to levels that once shook Wall Street. (NMN)

🔖 MBA expands CONVERGENCE with knowledge hub for lenders. (MBA)

👀 See how owning a home is getting more expensive in every way. (WSJ)

4. Affordable housing developers are stretched thin as costs keep climbing

A survey of 156 affordable housing professionals found that 77% have delayed, resized, or cancelled projects in the past six months due to financial pressures.

Higher labor, materials, and interest rates are the main culprits, compounded by limited public funding and tax incentives. More than half said their projects significantly depend on public subsidies just to move forward.

The squeeze is forcing tradeoffs including deferred maintenance, reduced resident services, and staffing cuts. Developers are turning to creative financing structures — donor-advised funds, CDFIs, and back-to-back bond sales — to fill gaps that traditional capital stacks can't cover.

5. JPMorgan reshapes Dimon succession race

JPMorgan Chase has named Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh as co-presidents, the most visible step yet in planning for an eventual successor to Jamie Dimon, who remains chairman and CEO.

• Petno becomes sole CEO of the Commercial and Investment Bank; Rohrbaugh takes over Consumer and Community Banking, replacing Marianne Lake, who is retiring after 25 years.

Both divisions touch housing finance directly — retail mortgage origination, warehouse lending, MBS markets, and MSR financing all sit within their scope. JPMorgan originated $13.7 billion in mortgages in Q1 2026, up 46% year over year, ranking fourth among U.S. lenders.

☀️ You’re all caught up. See you on Monday!

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