Higher mortgage rates don't just affect buyers. They can change what it takes to sell your house, too. That's because today's buyers are paying close attention to affordability. And when rates rise, even a relatively small change can make a noticeable difference in their monthly payment. So, they're looking for ways to make the numbers work. And in some markets, new construction is giving them exactly that. If you're planning to sell , that doesn't mean you can't compete. But it does mean you need to understand what builders are doing to win over buyers – and what options you have, too. Builders Are Competing on the Monthly Payment New construction has something interesting going for it right now. While existing-home sales (homes that have previously been lived in, resale homes) continue to sell, the dated, or not updated ones tend to struggle under the weight of higher mortgage rates, new-home sales are holding up a bit better. Buyers in this market are very picky and don't over pay for a house that needs work. In a recent interview , Logan Mohtashami, Chief Economist at HousingWire explains new-home sales are at an 8-month high and are now running around 2019 levels . On the flip side, existing home sales are lagging behind and fall about 1 million home sales short of 2019 levels. One big reason builders have been able to navigate higher rates differently is incentives. According to Realtor.com , nearly 1 in 5 (18.8%) newly built homes come with some kind of buyer incentive advertised up front, here in Placer and Sacramento county I have seen 100% of the builders are offering some kind of incentives to the buyers of the standing inventory. 

For a lot of first-time buyers, owning a home can feel perpetually a few years out of reach. Saving for a down payment takes time, and each year you spend renting can make owning feel further off. But buying your first home doesn’t have to happen to feel like a far away goal. Two choices you control can bring your first home years closer, even with affordability as tight as it is right now. How Long Buying Really Takes First, one quick definition. "Breaking even" is the point where owning has cost you about the same as renting would have over the same period. And after that point, owning starts to cost less than renting. Kara Ng, Senior Economist at Zillow, puts it this way: "Buyers should think about not just when they can afford to buy, but how long they'd need to stay before owning makes more financial sense than renting." So how long does reaching that point usually take? And what are the shortcuts? Let’s do the math. According to Zillow, it usually takes about 8.5 years to save for a 20% down payment, then roughly 6.2 more years before owning costs the same as renting. Together, that's just under 15 years. But that math relies on two assumptions: that you're buying a mid-priced home, and that you're putting 20% down. Change either one and your timeline gets shorter. Change both and it can shrink fast. It also varies widely by market, since local prices and rents are different depending on where you live. A Starter Home Can Get You There Twice as Fast A starter home usually means a home in the lower third of local prices. They’re often condos , townhomes, or single-family homes a little smaller or older than others in the area. Choosing one over a mid-priced home can cut your wait down by a lot. And while that might sound obvious, you may not realize just how much it shortens your timeline. Because if you’re buying a more affordable home, you don’t have to save up as much or as long. Zillow found that nationwide, a starter home takes half the time – about 7.2 years – to save for and come out ahead on, compared with renting (see graph below):