Global| Feb 24 2012U.S. New Home Sales Edge Lower; Recent Months Revised Upward
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Sales were bolstered by extremely warm temperatures, but total new home sales slipped 0.9% last month to 321,000 following four months of sizable gain. The figures for 2H'11 were revised up. Sales beat Consensus expectations for [...]
Sales were bolstered by extremely warm temperatures, but total new home sales slipped 0.9% last month to 321,000 following four months of sizable gain. The figures for 2H'11 were revised up. Sales beat Consensus expectations for 315,000 but they remained down by three-quarters versus the 2005 peak. The median price of a new single family home improved slightly m/m to $217,100 (-9.6% y/y). The average home price fell 1.2% m/m to $261,600 (-5.1% y/y).
Sales performance continued to vary across the country. Sales in the West fell 10.6% but were up 5.6% y/y while in the Midwest sales dropped by one-half versus December and were down 11.9% y/y. Working the other way was an 11.1% rise (-39.4% y/y) in sales in the Northeast and a 9.3% rise (15.3% y/y) in the South.
The inventory of unsold homes reached another series low (-18.8% y/y) and at 5.6 months of sales was near the cycle-low. Low inventories of unsold homes are fairly common across the country. The length of time to sell a new home ticked up m/m to a median 7.1 months versus 11.4 months in 2010.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Home Sales | Jan | Dec | Nov | Y/Y % | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (SAAR, 000s) | 321 | 324 | 318 | 3.5 | 305 | 321 | 374 |
| Northeast | 20 | 18 | 16 | -39.4 | 21 | 31 | 31 |
| Midwest | 37 | 49 | 51 | -11.9 | 44 | 45 | 54 |
| South | 188 | 172 | 182 | 15.3 | 168 | 173 | 202 |
| West | 76 | 85 | 69 | 5.6 | 70 | 74 | 87 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 217,100 | 216,500 | 213,100 | -9.6 | 224,042 | 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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