Global| Oct 24 2012U.S. New Home Sales Advance But Prices Retreat
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The new home sales market reached a two year high last month. New home sales in September rose 5.7% to 389,000 (SAAR) from 368,000 during August, revised from 373,000. The gain beat Consensus expectations for 382,000 sales. The latest [...]
The new home sales market reached a two year high last month. New
home sales in September rose 5.7% to 389,000 (SAAR) from 368,000
during August, revised from 373,000. The gain beat Consensus
expectations for 382,000 sales. The latest was the highest level
since April 2010, just before the home buyers tax credit expired.
Home sales in the South paced the m/m increase with a 16.8% (24.3%
y/y) rise. That was followed by a 16.7% (75.0% y/y) rise in the
Northeast and a 3.9% (62.1% y/y) gain the West. New home sales in
the Midwest fell by roughly one-third m/m (-31.9% y/y).
The median price of a new single family home slipped 3.2% to $242,400 (+11.7% y/y) while prices in prior months were revised lower. The average price slipped to $292,400 (14.5% y/y) during September.
The length of time to sell a new home fell sharply m/m to 6.5 months in September. The inventory of unsold homes at 145,000 (-9.4% y/y) ticked up m/m from the all time low. This is a 4.5 month supply at the current sales rate, the lowest since late-2005.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure is from the Action Economics survey and is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Home Sales | Sep | Aug | Jul | Y/Y % | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (SAAR, 000s) | 389 | 368 | 373 | 27.1 | 307 | 321 | 374 |
| Northeast | 35 | 30 | 31 | 75.0 | 21 | 31 | 31 |
| Midwest | 32 | 51 | 53 | -31.7 | 45 | 45 | 54 |
| South | 215 | 184 | 184 | 24.3 | 169 | 173 | 202 |
| West | 107 | 103 | 105 | 62.1 | 72 | 74 | 87 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | $242,400 | $250,400 | $236,700 | 11.7 | 224,317 | 221,242 | 214,500 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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