Global| Jun 23 2010U.S. New Home Sales Fall With Tax-Credit Expiration To Record Low
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New home sales fell by nearly one-third last month versus April with the end to the Federal government's $8,000 home-buyer tax credit. New home sales at 300,000 followed a downwardly revised 446,000 during April. It was a record low [...]
New home sales fell by nearly one-third last month versus April with
the end to the Federal government's $8,000 home-buyer tax credit. New
home sales at 300,000 followed a downwardly revised 446,000
during April. It was a record low for the series which dates back to
1963. The latest level was well short of Consensus expectations for
420,000 sales.
Price discounts accompanied the decline in May sales. The median home price fell 1.0% m/m to $200,900 following April's 10% decline. The latest was the lowest price level since December 2003. The average price of a new home held up at $263,400 (-4.1% y/y).
At the current sales rate, the months' supply of unsold homes jumped to 8.5 from 5.8 in April but remained well below the 2009 high of 12.1 months. Moreover, it still took a near-record median 14.2 months to sell a new home during May.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database.
Challenges in Economic Capital Modeling from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco can be found here.
| US New Homes | May | April | March | Y/Y | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total Sales(SAAR, 000s) | 300 | 446 | 389 | -18.3% | 372 | 481 | 769 |
| Northeast | 28 | 42 | 33 | 12.0 | 32 | 35 | 64 |
| Midwest | 51 | 67 | 54 | 6.3 | 54 | 69 | 118 |
| South | 170 | 228 | 209 | -16.7 | 201 | 264 | 409 |
| West | 51 | 109 | 93 | -43.3 | 87 | 113 | 178 |
| Median Price(NSA, $) | 200,900 | 202,900 | 225,400 | -9.6% | 214,500 | 230,408 | 243,742 |
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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