Global| Sep 26 2016U.S. New Home Sales & Prices Decline
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The new home market has weakened recently. Sales of new single-family homes declined 7.6% during August (+20.6% y/y) to 609,000 (SAAR) from 659,000 in July, revised from 654,000. Sales of 597,000 had been expected in the Action [...]
The new home market has weakened recently. Sales of new single-family homes declined 7.6% during August (+20.6% y/y) to 609,000 (SAAR) from 659,000 in July, revised from 654,000. Sales of 597,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
The median price of a new home declined 3.1% to $284,000 (-5.4% y/y), the lowest level since July 2014. The average price of a new home improved 0.5% to $353,600 (1.4% y/y) following a 3.1% decline.
Last month's decline in new home sales was paced by a roughly one-third drop in the Northeast to 23,000 (-25.8% y/y), which reversed the July gain. Sales in the South also fell 12.3% to 343,000 (+15.9% y/y). Sales in the Midwest eased 2.4% to 81,000. They still were up roughly one-third y/y, and at the highest level since early 2008. Continuing upward were sales in the West where an 8.0% gain to 162,000 (35.0% y/y) followed a 6.4% rise.
The months' supply of homes at the current sales rate rebounded to 4.6, but remained below the August high of 5.8 months. The median number of months a new home was on the market declined to 3.2 (NSA), the lowest level since December.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from the Action Economics Forecast Survey is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | Aug | Jul | Jun | Aug Y/Y % | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 609 | 659 | 579 | 20.6 | 502 | 440 | 430 |
| Northeast | 23 | 35 | 26 | -25.8 | 25 | 28 | 31 |
| Midwest | 81 | 83 | 79 | 39.7 | 61 | 58 | 61 |
| South | 343 | 391 | 333 | 15.9 | 287 | 244 | 233 |
| West | 162 | 150 | 141 | 35.0 | 131 | 110 | 106 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 284,000 | 293,100 | 320,700 | -5.4 | 297,258 | 283,775 | 265,092 |
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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