In a down market, builders are the ones moving the prices downward. No matter the market conditions, builders need to continue selling houses to earn a living.
Sellers of resale houses hold on to their high prices until certain catalysts (job move, divorce, children going to college, flip gone flop, etc…) in their lives force price reductions and sales.
The promotional email updates I get from builders show that they ahead of the market and lower than resale houses.