New home sales increase for the second month in a row: Builders benefited from low inventory of existing homes again in April, as more buyers turned to new construction as an alternative. Sales of new homes rose 4.1% to a 683,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in April – the highest pace since March 2022, and was 11.8% higher than its pace one year ago. Builder incentives continue to motivate buyers towards new construction, but their use by builders is becoming less common as housing demand stabilizes. Meanwhile, the median sales price of new homes dropped 7.7% month-over-month to $420,800. The April median price also went down 8.2% from the year-ago level and the dip was the first since August 2020. At the regional level, sales in the West declined 9.1% month-over-month in April, after surging to the highest level in ten months in March. April sales also dipped 2.8% from the same month of last year. Higher mortgage in recent weeks will have a negative impact on buyers’ demand and will likely lead to lower new home sales in May.

In case you haven’t been to the Golden State in a while or checked home prices, one thing to know before you decide to move there is that it’s expensive. Not only are essentials like gas and food more pricey, but real estate is at the top of the market.

Has your California dream turned into a nightmare? Fear not, because GOBankingRates is breaking down the eight cities in California where home prices have gone down drastically and where you could perhaps purchase your home in the West Coast state that has it all.