Global| Feb 24 2021U.S. New Home Sales Improve During January
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
• Sales post widespread gains in most of country. • Median house prices decline. Sales of new single-family homes rose 4.3% (19.3% y/y) to 923,000 (SAAR) during January following a 5.5% December rise to 885,000, revised from 842,000. [...]
• Sales post widespread gains in most of country.
• Median house prices decline.
Sales of new single-family homes rose 4.3% (19.3% y/y) to 923,000 (SAAR) during January following a 5.5% December rise to 885,000, revised from 842,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 860,000 sales in January.
Sales improved throughout most of the country. Midwest sales rose 12.6% (10.3% y/y) to 107,000, a three-month high. In the West, sales improved 6.8% (-6.3% y/y) to 236,000. Sales in South gained 3.0% (40.4% y/y) to 549,000. Working 13.9% lower (-8.8% y/y) were sales in the Northeast to 31,000, down from a June 2020 high of 52,000.
The median price of a new home fell 1.9% (+5.3% y/y) in January to $346,400, the lowest level in three months. Working higher was the average price of a new home by 3.6% (6.5% y/y) to $408,800. These prices are not seasonally adjusted.
The supply of new homes on the market in January was 4.0 months of sales, down from a high of 6.8 months last April. The median number of months a new home stayed on the market after completion declined to 2.9 and approximated the record low. It was down from a high of 4.5 months in both August and September.
New home sales activity and prices are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | Jan | Dec | Nov | Jan Y/Y % | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 923 | 885 | 839 | 19.3 | 818 | 685 | 614 |
| Northeast | 31 | 36 | 31 | -8.8 | 37 | 30 | 32 |
| Midwest | 107 | 95 | 75 | 10.3 | 90 | 72 | 75 |
| South | 549 | 533 | 514 | 40.4 | 472 | 400 | 347 |
| West | 236 | 221 | 219 | -6.3 | 220 | 183 | 160 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 346,400 | 353,100 | 349,800 | 5.3 | 333,892 | 319,267 | 323,125 |
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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