Global| Apr 25 2011U.S. New Home Sales Post A Limp Rebound
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The housing market continues to generate only modest forward momentum. Consistent with last week's report of higher sales of existing single-family homes, total new home sales in March rose 25.9% to 300,000 (AR). That, however, just [...]
The housing market continues to generate only modest forward momentum.
Consistent with last week's report of higher sales of existing
single-family homes, total new home
sales in March rose 25.9% to 300,000 (AR). That, however, just
recovered February's decline of 18.3% which was less than reported initially. Expectations were for
280,000 March sales according to Action Economics. Despite the latest
rise, new home sales still have fallen by
three-quarters from the all-time monthly record 1,279,000 in 2005. The
rise in March sales was most pronounced in the Northeast, up two-thirds
from February's record low. Sales in the West rose by one-quarter and
recovered the February decline. Sales in the Midwest rose a modest 12.9%
from a record low while sales in the South slipped 0.6% m/m.
With the rise in sales last month, the inventory of unsold homes fell to a 7.3 months supply and reversed the February increase. Also, it took a median 8.5 months to sell a home since completion versus the low of 7.8 months in January.
The median price of a new single family home rose 2.9% to $213,800 from an upwardly revised February level. By price range, 20% of homes sold cost less than $150,000, 24% cost $150,000 to $199,990, and 29% cost $200,000 to $299,999. At the higher end, 17% cost $300,000 to $399,000 and 10% cost over $400,000. By region, in 2010 homes in the Northeast cost a median $326,775, in the West $259,525, in the Midwest $199,000 and in the South $194,925.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database.
Forecasting the End of the Global Recession: Did We Miss the Early Signs? from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is available here.
| U.S. New Home Sales | Mar | Feb | Jan | Y/Y % | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (SAAR, 000s) | 300 | 270 | 312 | -21.9 | 322 | 374 | 482 |
| Northeast | 30 | 18 | 39 | -9.1 | 31 | 32 | 35 |
| Midwest | 35 | 31 | 41 | -34.0 | 45 | 54 | 69 |
| South | 162 | 163 | 161 | -21.4 | 172 | 201 | 265 |
| West | 73 | 58 | 71 | -20.7 | 74 | 87 | 113 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 213,800 | 207,700 | 234,900 | -4.9 | 221,242 | 214,500 | 230,408 |
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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