A Statesville buyer looking at homes between $300,000 and $350,000 this October can find a new-construction home where the builder's lender advertises a 4.750% starting rate. On the same afternoon, Freddie Mac's weekly national average for a 30-year fixed mortgage stood at 7.40%. That gap of more than two and a half points is now the main thing separating a new build from a resale in Statesville. It also never appears in the median sale price, because the monthly market reports leave concessions out of the price.
What the 4.750% Comes With
D.R. Horton's affiliated lender, DHI Mortgage, is advertising an FHA and VA 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage with a 4.750% starting rate on certain homes in select North Carolina communities. In Statesville that includes Wallace Springs, where homes were listed from $317,990 in mid-October, and Bristol Terrace. The annual percentage rate shown alongside it is 6.602% for the FHA version and 6.208% for the VA version.
The fine print sets the terms. The offer covers homes that go under contract on or after September 21, 2026 and close by December 31, 2026. The starting rate is fixed for five years and then adjusts every year. The first adjustment is capped at 1.000%, each later adjustment is also capped at 1.000%, and the lifetime cap is 5.000% over the starting rate, with a 2.000% margin. The builder lists the "fully indexed rate" at 6.400% and the maximum possible rate at 9.750%.
Here is what those caps allow, year by year:
| Loan year | Highest rate the caps allow | Rate if the index holds at the disclosed level |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 5 | 4.750% | 4.750% |
| 6 | 5.750% | 5.750% |
| 7 | 6.750% | 6.400% |
| 8 | 7.750% | 6.400% |
| 9 | 8.750% | 6.400% |
| 10 and after | 9.750% | 6.400% |
The right-hand column is only an illustration. The index moves with the market, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's explainer on ARM index and margin notes that the margin stays fixed after closing while the index does not. Even so, the table shows something useful. The rate the loan would settle at if conditions held, 6.400%, is still below the national 30-year fixed average of 7.40% that Freddie Mac reported for the week of October 15, 2026.
Other conditions apply. DHI Mortgage says it locked a fixed rate for a pool of funds, so the rate lasts only until that pool runs out. Not every buyer will qualify, some may have to pay points to get the advertised rate, and buyers must finance through DHI Mortgage to get it, although they are not required to use that lender to buy the home.
Why the Median Doesn't Show It
The Canopy Realtor Association's September 2026 market update for Statesville puts the median sale price at $303,000, down 3.5% from September 2025. The average sale price rose 7.7%, to $352,100. When the median and the average move in opposite directions, it usually means the mix of homes that closed that month shifted, more than any one home's value changed. Only 95 homes closed in Statesville that month, and the report itself says small samples can make percent changes look extreme.
The footnote on the same page explains why rate offers are missing. The sale prices in the report do "not account for sale concessions and/or downpayment assistance." A home that closes at $330,000 with lender-subsidized financing counts the same as a home that closes at $330,000 at whatever rate the buyer found on their own. If the payments differ by hundreds of dollars a month, the median records them as identical.
Price reductions don't show the full picture either. In mid-October, D.R. Horton listed 158 Maple Valley Street in Wallace Springs at $325,000, down from $330,790, and 1004 Candy Drive in Bristol Terrace at $335,000, down from $337,490. Those are cuts of a few thousand dollars. The financing difference is much larger, and it never shows up in a price history.
Who Resale Sellers Are Really Competing With
This matters most for anyone selling an existing Statesville home this fall, because the competition is getting bigger. Canopy's September report shows 124 new listings in Statesville, up 30.5% from a year earlier, while pending sales rose 17.3%, to 88. Inventory stood at 352 homes, or 4.1 months of supply. Sellers received 94.8% of their original list price on average, and homes spent an average of 52 days on the market. For the year through September, days on market climbed from 59 to 65.
New listings grew faster than pending sales, so buyers have more homes to choose from and more time to choose. Many of them are comparing monthly payments rather than prices. The builder's own example for this promotion uses a $356,490 sale price, an FHA loan of $350,033, and a total monthly payment of $2,320 that includes taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance and HOA dues. Some rough arithmetic shows the gap. On that $350,033 loan, principal and interest at 4.750% come to about $1,826 a month. At 7.40%, the same loan would be about $2,424, roughly $600 more each month for the first five years. The 7.40% figure is a national average for conventional 30-year fixed loans, not a quote for any particular buyer, but it gives a sense of the difference a resale seller's buyer may be weighing.
Prices cover a wide range in the area. Canopy's September median was $303,000 in Statesville, $385,000 across Iredell County and $392,990 across the Charlotte region. Not every builder in Statesville is advertising a specific rate. True Homes lists its Wheatfield Estates community from the high $300s and invites buyers to ask about special offers, but its page doesn't state a rate or closing-cost figure.
Resale sellers have their own tools for closing the gap. The CFPB describes two related options. Discount points lower the rate in exchange for paying more at closing. A third-party buydown lets a seller or someone else subsidize part of the buyer's payment, either for part of the loan term or for all of it. CFPB's guidance on points and lender credits and its Regulation Z commentary on buydowns explain how each works. In practice, a resale seller's most useful offer to a buyer this fall may be help with the rate rather than a lower price.
Questions to Ask Before Comparing Two Statesville Offers
When a buyer has a new build with promotional financing and a resale with a conventional loan in front of them, these questions put the two offers on equal footing:
- How long does the rate last? The D.R. Horton rate is fixed for five years. A buyer can compare the full table above, including the 9.750% ceiling, against how long they expect to stay in the home.
- What is the highest payment? The CFPB's page on ARM rate caps suggests asking the lender to calculate the highest possible payment.
- Are points required? The DHI disclosure says some borrowers may have to pay points to get the advertised rate.
- Which deadline applies? The rate offer requires closing by December 31, 2026. D.R. Horton's separate Red Tag sale runs from October 9 through November 1, and the builder's Bristol Terrace promotion also ends November 1. The builder also says its offers may not be combinable.
- On the resale side, could a seller credit be used for the rate? A seller credit put toward points or a buydown can narrow the payment gap. A price cut of the same size may not narrow it as much.
A Few Common Questions
What does the September median price leave out? Canopy's sale prices exclude seller concessions and down payment assistance. The $303,000 median reflects the price on each closed deal and leaves out any rate subsidy or credit that came with it.
Will the 4.750% offer still be available next month? The current version applies to contracts dated September 21, 2026 or later that close by December 31, 2026. It also lasts only while the lender's pool of funds holds out.
Have mortgage rates been moving? Yes. Freddie Mac's weekly 30-year fixed average went from 7.28% on October 1 to 7.40% on October 8, and it stayed at 7.40% on October 15, 2026.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Loan terms depend on each buyer's situation, so confirm yours with a licensed lender or the appropriate professional.
If you're weighing a new build against a resale in Statesville, or deciding how to price and structure an offer on a home you're selling while builder financing is on the market, Hartness Hometown Properties can sit down with you and compare the payments, deadlines and terms on each side. Get Expert Guidance From Start to Finish.
