In the current environment of still-high home prices and mortgage rates, it can often seem like buying a home is out of reach. Many buyers are discouraged by the amount they would have to pay upfront and each month going forward when purchasing a home, as buying power has been drastically reduced and renting is a lower-cost option. These affordability constraints have ground the housing market nearly to a halt in 2025, with sales activity stalling in both the new-home and existing-home segments. Even as the number of homes for sale has rebounded to near pre-pandemic levels, many would-be buyers feel like there are no options that meet their needs and their budget.
This is where builders come in. Builders understand the challenges facing buyers today, and they have ample new-home inventory for sale, more than at any time since 2007. Unlike sellers of existing homes, who for the most part have an inventory of one home that they can choose to continue living in instead of selling, builders need to move the hundreds or even thousands of homes in their inventory. Builders are motivated to sell, and they put their money where their mouth is with the types of buyer incentives we will feature in this report. In the interactive map below, you can explore where across the country builders are offering promotions.
Types of promotions
Each builder has their own unique offering when it comes to buyer incentives, but the most relevant and enticing offers can be grouped into these five categories. It’s important to note that not all promotions are advertised and that in some cases, promotions can be stacked together. Be sure to work with a real estate agent or builder sales representative to make sure you get the best deal possible when buying a new home.
Cash at closing
Closing costs are an often-overlooked expense when it comes to buying a home. There are many parties involved in a home purchase—lenders, title companies, inspectors, attorneys, and the government, to name a few—and they all have to get paid for their work. Closing costs can run as high as 7% of the purchase price of a home, which, on top of a down payment, makes for a hefty upfront expenditure. Builders are willing to help out with closing costs to get a deal done, so buyers may see offers on listings where the builder is offering a lump-sum credit to the buyer to use toward closing costs.
Flex cash
Flex cash is much like cash at closing, but with broader applications. Again, builders are offering a lump sum to buyers that can cover closing costs, but flex cash can also be used for home upgrades. Buyers can use flex cash to upgrade to premium home features or finishes instead if closing costs are manageable.
Included appliances
Refrigerators, washers and dryers, dishwashers, and other appliances are not always included in the price with the purchase of a new home. To sweeten the deal for buyers, many builders will include these items for free with a home purchase to offset the costs of outfitting a new home with the essentials.
Upgrades
Most new homes come with a variety of amenity packages to choose from. The base packages will often exclude some premium features such as high-end flooring, but builders offering upgrade promotions will include some of these optional finishes for free upon closing the deal.
Reduced rates
With mortgage rates in the high 6% for much of 2025, the opportunity to reduce your monthly payment is perhaps the most valuable promotion builders are offering. Builders often have in-house financing arms or relationships with lenders that allow them to provide preferred rates. Prior research has shown that buyers of new homes tend to take out mortgages with significantly lower rates than buyers of existing homes. These are long-term savings that can make a serious difference in buyers’ budgets. Fortunately for buyers, reduced rates are the most common type of promotion being offered by builders, with 1,645 new-home communities nationwide offering reduced rates.
How promotion types stack up
Based on builder promotions on Realtor.com® listings, the most commonly advertised deal is reduced mortgage rates, with more than two-thirds of builder communities promoting this deal. Previous research showed that at typical new-home prices, a half-point mortgage rate reduction could mean a savings of $168 per month. The other offerings are significantly less likely to be advertised, but range from roughly 1 in 6 promoting flex cash to just over 1 in 50 advertising the inclusion of appliances in the price.
Top ZIP codes for builder promotions
75009: Celina, TX
The ZIP code with the most builder promotions is 75009 in Celina, TX. This North Texas suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area has a median listing price for new-construction homes of $575,137—higher than the overall median for DFW as a whole—but prices are falling in this high-end part of the metro, down 16.3% year over year. New-construction inventory is up massively; there are 87.9% more new builds for sale in 75009 than there were last year. New homes in 75009 move just slightly faster than new homes nationwide, with a median time on the market of 68.7 days, but this time on the market has grown 9.3% year over year. With inventory up, prices down, and time on the market growing, builders are highly motivated to get homes sold, and they are offering more promotions there than in any other ZIP code. This is an excellent opportunity for buyers to find a deal on a home in a growing part of DFW, with many subdivisions offering reduced rates but a handful of others offering cash at closing, included appliances, and home upgrades.
32081: Ponte Vedra, FL
ZIP code 32081 in Ponte Vedra, FL, is a higher-priced region of the Jacksonville metro area with a median listing price for new construction of $681,882, compared to the overall Jacksonville median of $408,495. New-home inventory is actually down 17.1% year over year in 32081, but existing-home inventory has grown by 18.5%, so the market is well-supplied overall. New homes spend a long time on the market in 32081, 111.1 days compared to 70.3 nationally, and their prices are falling: down 3.5% year over year. The most common builder incentive in 32081 is reduced rates, but subdivisions are offering flex cash and cash at closing as well.
46074: Westfield, IN
North of Indianapolis, ZIP code 46074 in Westfield is another high-end suburb with a median new-construction listing price of $516,660 (down 4.9% year over year), well above the Indianapolis median price of $334,273. New-construction inventory is down 20.2% year over year, but existing-home inventory has risen by 38.8% since last summer. New homes move quickly in 46074, with a median time on the market of 52.8 days, but this has slowed by 3.3% from last year at this time. Builders in 46074 are primarily offering reduced rates, which will help buyers with the monthly payment on these relatively expensive new builds, but flex cash offerings are also available.
85387: Surprise, AZ
ZIP code 85387 in Surprise is a fast-growing suburb of Phoenix that is notable for having more than twice as many new-construction listings on the market than existing ones and a median listing price for those new builds that is lower than that of existing homes. In 85387, $463,327 is the median listing price for new construction, which is basically flat year over year. New homes spend 66 days on the market, up 10.6% from last summer. There is ample new-home inventory in 85387, and builders are eager to sell, offering reduced rates and cash at closing.
27501: Angier, NC
South of Raleigh, 27501 in Angier is the most affordable ZIP code featured here with a median new-construction listing price of $372,311, up 3.4% from last summer. New-home inventory is growing in 27501, up 14.3% year over year. New homes in 27501 sell in about the same amount of time as they do nationally, 71 days, but this has slowed by 8.2% since last year at this time. To get this affordable new-home inventory moving faster, builders in 27501 are mostly offering cash at closing, but flex cash and reduced rates are available as well.
Methodology
Builder promotions are collected from advertisements on builder listings of new homes on Realtor.com in August 2025. The details of the promotions are interpreted by a machine learning model that classifies them into the five categories mentioned above. Top ZIP codes are determined by the number of new-construction subdivisions that offer these promotions in each ZIP code, with a limit of one ZIP code per state. Market data is collected from Realtor.com from June 1 through Aug. 31, 2025.
