Townhome (attached) home sales are outpacing detached homes, as homebuyers seek affordable housing options, according to NewHomeSource data.
Across the top 50 markets surveyed, attached homes inched ahead in July, averaging 2.3 monthly sales, compared to 2.2 for detached.
In 24% of the markets, year-over-year sales rate growth trends favored townhomes, too, compared to detached at 20%.
Detached projects have outpaced attached from 2019 through mid-2024, but that trend is shifting. Attached sales have led in six separate months since June 2024, including January 2025 and May 2025.
NewHomeSource’s recent Homebuyer Outlook report, which studies homebuyer search activity, found a similar trend, with attached homes generating 24% of total searches, despite accounting for only 11% of new home listings.
Nationally, the trend toward townhomes is modest, but regionally, thanks to the strength of local influences, the shift is more significant.
Here are the top five markets for attached sales, according to Zonda’s National Outlook Report.
Top 5 Markets by Attached Sales Rate (Jul-25)
| Rank | Market | Rate | YOY | Since 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Las Vegas | 5.0 | 19.4% | -1.0% |
| 2 | Port St. Lucie | 4.4 | 49.8% | 169.3% |
| 3 | Myrtle Beach | 4.1 | 21.2% | 168.6% |
| 4 | Columbia | 4.0 | 43.9% | 200.8% |
| 5 | Provo | 3.9 | -5.6% | -1.3% |
Why the Shift and What Does It Mean?
With inflation and mortgage rates consistently creating challenges for homebuyers, affordability trumps other priorities. That means homebuyers are open to high-density living, seeing shared walls and smaller footprints as a reasonable trade-off for favorable price and access to homeownership.
Meanwhile, on the supply side, higher development and land costs have tipped builders towards higher-density housing, favoring more cost-effective construction, and taking advantage of density incentives and looser policy in some markets.
What does this mean for buyers? Keeping an open mind about attached housing may open the door for homeownership. Along with a more affordable price point, townhomes often are cheaper to maintain, especially if upkeep is included with HOA fees. If privacy is a concern, look for end units, or floorplans with buffer spaces (closets, stairwells) against shared walls.
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