Most people know not to buy a new car if they plan on selling it within a few years. Somehow, that wisdom never made it to new construction homes.
When you buy a new home from a builder, you pay a premium to be the first one through the door. The moment you move in, that premium evaporates — your home is now a resale, competing against the builder’s remaining inventory in the development, where the builder can offer incentives, rate buydowns, and upgrades you simply can’t match. Add in the fact that selling costs sellers roughly 5–7% in commissions and closing costs, and you need significant appreciation just to break even.
Don’t believe me? I pulled the data. A home built in Woodbury sold this past October for $840,000 — after the original buyers purchased it new from the builder in April 2005 for $620,593. Adjusted for inflation, that original purchase price is worth $1,043,212 in today’s dollars. They owned through the worst housing crash in modern history and the hottest seller’s market on record, and in the end, sold for roughly 20% less than what they paid in real terms.
That’s not a cautionary tale. That’s just what homes do. They’re not investments. They’re places where your life happens — and honestly, for those particular sellers, $840,000 in your pocket after 20 years in a home they loved still sounds like a win to me.
Real estate can be a good investment. But if you’re buying a home with the intention to make money when you sell, new construction is the worst place to start.
