Dive Brief:

• Builders are looking for creative solutions as interest rates spike, leaving potential customers uncertain about purchasing a new home.

• Builders such as Lennar and PulteGroup Inc. have been offering incentives such as shaving half a percentage point off of interest rates or covering loan costs of buyers if they use the builder's in-house lending institutions to purchase homes.

• Other companies have been waiving closing costs, prepaying mortgage insurance and paying down interest rates to entice buyers.

Dive Insight:

According to Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial, builders "have a sense of urgency, because if they have to report prices fell, too, it would be a disaster," referring to the speculation that builders will already be reporting a drop in home sales for this quarter.