US New Home Sales (Aug MM) 6.4% (Prev. -10.5%)

The mechanically relevant read is therefore on the two-month average and any revision to the prior month, not the headline print. As a builder-facing rather than existing-home measure, the series tracks the segment where mortgage-rate buydowns and inventory incentives have been doing the work, so the rate sensitivity runs through the homebuilder complex and building materials rather than the broader housing stock. The rate market typically gives single housing prints limited weight unless they corroborate a run of shelter or activity data. The follow-ons are the revisions, the months' supply and price components within the same report, and whether pending and existing sales tell the same story.