·
Sales of new single family home sales dropped 4.3% last month to 1.072M
though a 0.9% June decline was revised shallower. Consensus expectations
had been for July sales of 1.10M.
· New home sales during the first seven months of this year fell 13.5% from the first seven months of 2005 and last month were 21.6% below the monthly peak last July.
· Sales in the Midwest fell the
hardest last month, down 21.3% (-35.4% y/y). Sales in the South also
fell 8.0% (-12.4% y/y). In the Northeast sales rose a slight 1.8% (-42.9%
y/y) and sales out West recovered 11.7% (-23.4% y/y.
· The number of new homes for sale rose 1.1% m/m in July and rose 22.4% y/y. The year to year breakdown by region is as follows: Northeast, 32.5%; West, 30.0%; South, 27.9%; Midwest, -1.0%.
· The median sales price of a new single family home fell 1.6% to $230,000, down 10.5% from the April peak.