Global| Oct 26 2016U.S. New Home Sales & Prices Recover
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Sales of new single-family homes increased 3.1% (29.8% y/y) during September to 593,000 (AR) following an 8.6% August decline to 575,000, revised from 609,000. Sales of 604,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast [...]
Sales of new single-family homes increased 3.1% (29.8% y/y) during September to 593,000 (AR) following an 8.6% August decline to 575,000, revised from 609,000. Sales of 604,000 had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Despite the increase, sales remained 57.3% below the July 2005 peak.
The median price of a new home improved 6.7% (1.9% y/y) to $313,500 versus $293,800 in August, revised from $284,000. The average price of a new home increased 6.0% (2.7% y/y) to $377,700 following a 0.5% rise.
Last month's rise in new home sales was paced by a one-third recovery in the Northeast to 32,000 (60.0% y/y), which reversed most of the August decline. Sales in the Midwest increased 8.6% (33.3% y/y) to 76,000 after a 13.6% decline. New home sales in the South improved 3.4% (25.7% y/y) to 338,000 after an 11.4% fall. To the downside were sales in the West where a 4.5% fall (+32.4% y/y) to 147,000 followed two months of firm increase.
The months' supply of homes at the current sales rate of 4.8 remained below the high of 5.8 months, one year ago. The median number of months a new home was on the market declined to 3.1 (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.
Trend Job Growth: Where's Normal? from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco is available here.
| U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | Sep | Aug | Jul | Sep Y/Y % | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 593 | 575 | 629 | 29.8 | 502 | 440 | 430 |
| Northeast | 32 | 24 | 36 | 60.0 | 25 | 28 | 31 |
| Midwest | 76 | 70 | 81 | 33.3 | 61 | 58 | 61 |
| South | 338 | 327 | 369 | 25.7 | 287 | 244 | 233 |
| West | 147 | 154 | 143 | 32.4 | 131 | 110 | 106 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 313,500 | 293,800 | 295,500 | 1.9 | 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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