Global| May 26 2015U.S. New Home Sales Improve With Prices
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New home sales during April recovered 6.8% to 517,000 units (26.1% y/y) from 484,000 in March, initially reported as 481,000. The latest figure beat expectations for 503,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Sales are [...]
New home sales during April recovered 6.8% to 517,000 units (26.1% y/y) from 484,000 in March, initially reported as 481,000. The latest figure beat expectations for 503,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Sales are quoted at seasonally adjusted annual rates.
Home prices recovered along with sales. The median price for a new home during April increased to $297,300 (8.3% y/y) from $285,500, revised from $277,400. The average price of a new home slipped to $341,500 (5.0% y/y) from $343,300. It was the lowest average price since September.
Sales results varied around the country. Sales in the Midwest increased by more than one-third m/m (20.0% y/y) to 78,000. Home sales in the South rose 5.8% (26.4% y/y) to 292,000. To the downside, home sales in the Northeast declined 5.6% (-19.0% y/y) to 17,000 and sales in the West fell 2.3% (+39.8% y/y) to 130,000.
The inventory of unsold homes was little-changed for the second month at 205,000 (7.3% y/y). The months' sales supply of new homes declined m/m to 4.8 months, reversing the prior month's rise. The length of time to sell a new home rose to 4.0 months, the longest time since June 2013, but still down from 14.0 months at the end of 2009.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from the Action Economics survey is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Home Sales | Apr | Mar | Feb | Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total SAAR, 000s | 517 | 484 | 538 | 26.1 | 440 | 430 | 368 |
| Northeast | 17 | 18 | 27 | -19.0 | 28 | 31 | 29 |
| Midwest | 78 | 57 | 57 | 20.0 | 58 | 61 | 47 |
| South | 292 | 276 | 313 | 26.4 | 244 | 233 | 195 |
| West | 130 | 133 | 141 | 39.8 | 110 | 106 | 97 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 297,300 | 285,500 | 291,900 | 8.3 | 283,233 | 265,092 | 242,108 |
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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