Global| Jun 25 2018U.S. New Home Sales Increase While Prices Decline
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New single-family home sales increased 6.7% (14.1% y/y) to 689,000 (SAAR) during May following a 3.7% April decline to 646,000, revised from 662,000. Expectations had been for 680,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. [...]
New single-family home sales increased 6.7% (14.1% y/y) to 689,000 (SAAR) during May following a 3.7% April decline to 646,000, revised from 662,000. Expectations had been for 680,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Sales are calculated when contracts are closed and are tabulated by the National Association of Realtors.
The median price of a new home fell 1.7% (-3.3% y/y) to $313,000 from $318,500, revised from $312,400. It was the lowest price since April of last year. The average price of a new home declined 6.6% (-2.6% y/y) to $368,500, the lowest price since March.
Changes in new home sales were mixed last month across the country. Home sales in the South surged 17.9% (19.2% y/y) to 409,000, the highest level since July 2007. In other areas of the country, sales were weak m/m. Sales were unchanged in the Midwest at 87,000, but still rose 40.3% y/y. In the Northeast, sales declined 10.0% (-16.3% y/y) to 36,000. New home sales in the West slumped 8.7% (+0.6% y/y) to 157,000.
The months' supply of homes on the market declined m/m to 5.2 and has been moving irregularly sideways since 2012. The median number of months a new home was on the market remained low at 3.7, up slightly during the last nine months.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.
How Is Technology Changing the Mortgage Market? from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York can be found here.
| U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | May | Apr | Mar | May Y/Y % | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 689 | 646 | 671 | 14.1 | 613 | 561 | 501 |
| Northeast | 36 | 40 | 36 | -16.3 | 38 | 34 | 24 |
| Midwest | 87 | 87 | 86 | 40.3 | 70 | 68 | 61 |
| South | 409 | 347 | 362 | 19.2 | 338 | 318 | 285 |
| West | 157 | 172 | 187 | 0.6 | 162 | 143 | 128 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 313,000 | 318,500 | 334,200 | -3.3 | 321,633 | 306,500 | 293,733 |
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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