{"id":17,"date":"2026-10-08T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.room-vu.com\/mariaesparzarealestate-com\/2026\/10\/08\/u-s-builder-sentiment-hits-12-month-low\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T11:00:00","slug":"u-s-builder-sentiment-hits-12-month-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/2026\/10\/08\/u-s-builder-sentiment-hits-12-month-low\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Builder Sentiment Hits 12-Month Low"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"video-zmyer\">\n<div class=\"video-frame-zmyer\">\n        <iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/www.roomvu.com\/agent\/embed\/maria-esparza-4\/home-builder-sentiment-remotion-videos-f500\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><br \/>\n        <\/iframe>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"video-description-zmyer\">\n<p>Builder confidence across the U.S. reached its lowest point in a year toward the end of Q3, with the builder-confidence index dropping 3 points to 32. Sales conditions and six-month expectations also softened, while buyer traffic stayed flat at 23. As a mortgage professional who\u2019s worked alongside both first-time buyers and seasoned investors, I\u2019m seeing many builders respond by cutting prices\u201438% nationwide\u2014and increasing the use of incentives, now at two-thirds, up from 63% just a few months earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Mortgage applications for new-home purchases have now declined for five consecutive months, largely due to 30-year rates holding in the high-6% range. Large builders are stepping in by offering builder-paid rate buydowns, which help buyers access below-market mortgages and keep their homeownership plans on track without needing deep price cuts on new homes. With two major housing forecasters projecting 30-year rates to remain in the high-6% or higher through 2027, understanding your financing options\u2014and how to maximize incentives\u2014has never been more important. My goal is always to provide the clarity and support clients need to navigate these shifts, whether you\u2019re stepping into your first home or making your next investment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Builder confidence across the U.S. reached its lowest point in a year toward the end of Q3, with the builder-confidence index dropping 3 points to 32. Sales conditions and six-month expectations also softened, while buyer traffic stayed flat at 23. As a mortgage professional who\u2019s worked alongside both first-time buyers and seasoned investors, I\u2019m seeing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":558,"featured_media":18,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-posts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/558"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mariaesparzarealestate.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}