Global| Nov 23 2016U.S. New Home Sales and Prices Backpedal
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Sales of new single-family homes during October declined 1.9% (+17.8% y/y) to 563,000 (AR) from 574,000 sales in September, revised from 593,000. Sales of 590,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The decline [...]
Sales of new single-family homes during October declined 1.9% (+17.8% y/y) to 563,000 (AR) from 574,000 sales in September, revised from 593,000. Sales of 590,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. The decline left sales 9.5% below the July peak.
The median price of a new home fell 3.1% last month (+1.9% y/y) to $304,500 from $314,100 in September, revised from $313,000. The average price of a new home declined 2.5% (-3.3% y/y) to $354,900 following a 1.4% rise.
Last month's decline in new home sales was led by a 13.7% decline (+8.6% y/y) in sales in the Midwest to 63,000. In the Northeast sales fell 9.1% (-6.3% y/y) to 30,000 and new home sales in the South were off 3.0% to 322,000 (+17.9% y/y). To the upside were sales in the West where an 8.8% increase to 148,000 left them 28.7% higher than 12 months earlier.
The months' supply of homes at the current sales rate increased to 5.2, up from July's 4.6 rate. That was below, however, the high of 5.8 months in September of last year. The median number of months a new home was on the market declined to 3.0 (NSA), the lowest level since December.
Longer-Term Challenges for the U.S. Economy is the title of Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer's speech and it can be found here.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from the Action Economics Forecast Survey is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | Oct | Sep | Aug | Oct Y/Y % | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 563 | 574 | 567 | 17.8 | 502 | 440 | 430 |
| Northeast | 30 | 33 | 24 | -6.3 | 25 | 28 | 31 |
| Midwest | 63 | 73 | 67 | 8.6 | 61 | 58 | 61 |
| South | 322 | 332 | 333 | 17.9 | 287 | 244 | 233 |
| West | 148 | 136 | 143 | 28.7 | 131 | 110 | 106 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 304,500 | 314,100 | 299,600 | 1.9 | 297,258 | 283,775 | 265,092 |
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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