I’ve noticed something interesting while walking around my home town of Cheney–new homes are selling quickly while resale homes stay on the market for long periods of time, sometimes months. There are a couple of areas of new homes in Cheney, one is being built by Lennar off of Sunrise Drive (facing Crunks Field which is now unfortunately fenced off), and another by Hayden Homes off of Annie Place. (There are also a few new senior housing homes being built between the Hayden Homes area and Cheney Assisted Living Center.)
Resale homes of similar size SHOULD be very competitive as they were built at a time when labor and materials were much cheaper. But somehow those homes are not selling as quickly. I did some research on this and what I discovered is that the difference is in financing incentives being offered by sellers. The builders are offering some spectacular deals on financing, while the resale sellers typically are not, or at least they don’t usually start their marketing with such offers. So sellers are competing on both rates and prices while many sellers think that they are only competing on price and condition.
Condition is important too. Many home buyers like the idea of a home that has never been lived in and that doesn’t have any deferred maintenance. Many of the new homes are single level, which are of higher value and are in more demand than multi-level designs. Many resale homes in Cheney do not have updated kitchens and bathrooms. Many have recently replaced roofs but not all. So when comparing a new home with no deferred maintenance and a low interest rate with a lower priced resale home that requires some projects but, more importantly, comes with a 7 some percent interest rate, on balance, the new home looks like the better deal.
Why aren’t the builders simply competing on price? Because buyers who bought a year or two ago would not be happy to see similar models being sold at lower prices. By increasing incentives, the builders can maintain the illusion that values are not decreasing despite increased interest rates. Then when sellers use automated valuation tools like Zillow, they don’t realize that those tools only consider sales prices, not builder concessions such as interest rate buydowns. So what is the value of these concessions that builders are offering, and how does a resale seller compete? I ran some numbers. Here is what I came up with:
Lennar’s main financing incentive right now is a builder-paid mortgage rate buydown (often plus a modest closing-cost credit), almost always conditioned on using Lennar Mortgage.
They advertise this as promotional FHA rates in the mid-3s (examples from current community pages: 3.75% FHA, 3.99% FHA fixed, or 3.375% 5/1 ARM) or as a temporary 2-1 buydown. Market 30-year fixed rates are currently around 7.0–7.2%.
Company-wide numbers (most recent quarter)
In Q3 2026 Lennar reported:
- Average sales price: $372,000
- Sales incentives: ~12% of price
On a $400,000 home that 12% figure equals about $48,000.
Lennar has said the largest piece of that 12% is the cost of buying the rate down (discount points paid to their mortgage company), not a simple price cut. A 2–3 point rate reduction from current market rates can easily consume $30k–$50k in points on a $400k loan, which is why the reported incentive percentage lines up with the advertised teaser rates.
What you actually receive
- Lower monthly payment for the first 1–7 years (depending on whether it is a temporary buydown or a longer promotional ARM/fixed).
- Typically $5,000–$10,000 toward closing costs on top of the points (varies by community and cannot always be used for extra rate buy-down).
- Sometimes a separate advertised price reduction ($20k–$50k in some markets).
Offers are community-specific, time-limited, require using Lennar Mortgage, and funds can run out. The 12% / ~$48k figure is the best current national average; individual homes can be higher or lower. Check the exact community page or sales office for the home you’re considering, because the published promo rates change weekly.
In Cheney, the prices are higher than the national average. The Hayden Homes on and near Annie Place are going for about $425k to $665k (minus any financing incentives). The Lennar homes are mostly sold out but went for about $345k to $525k (minus any financing incentives). The higher priced Lennar homes are built on a hill and have nice views.
So if you are a seller of a resale home and your home is not selling, there are a couple of things you can do. First is to finish any deferred maintenance projects and make your home move-in ready. Replace that stained carpet, paint that dirty wall, remove those weeds. In terms of cost versus benefit, curb appeal type projects (making sure the lawn looks great) have the best return on investment. Many other projects will cost you more then you get in increased value (unless, perhaps, you do the work yourself). But more importantly, be aware that you are competing on rates, not just price. Consider offering a rate buy-down. Or reduce the price to prove an equivalent value to what the builders are providing.