Global| Apr 25 2017U.S. New Home Sales & Prices Strengthen
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Sales of new single-family homes increased 5.8% (15.6% y/y) during March to 621,000 from 587,000 in February, revised from 592,000. The latest level roughly matched the highest reading in November 2007. Expectations had been for [...]
Sales of new single-family homes increased 5.8% (15.6% y/y) during March to 621,000 from 587,000 in February, revised from 592,000. The latest level roughly matched the highest reading in November 2007. Expectations had been for 585,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey.
The median price of a new home (NSA) rebounded 7.5% (1.2% y/y) to $315,000 following two months of decline. Prices have moved erratically sideways since late-2015. The average price of a new home increased 3.9% (5.6% y/y) to $388,200.
The rebound in home sales was led by a 16.7% jump (32.6% y/y) in the Western region to 175,000. In the Northeast, sales strengthened 25.8% to 39,000 (21.9% y/y) and made up most of a February decline. Sales in South nudged 1.6% higher to 323,000 (5.9% y/y), while sales in the Midwest eased 4.5% (23.5% y/y) to 84,000.
The months' supply of homes at the current sales rate fell last month to 5.2, the lowest level since November. The median number of months a new home was on the market ticked higher to 3.7 (NSA), the highest level in nine months.
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) | Mar | Feb | Jan | Mar Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 621 | 587 | 585 | 15.6 | 560 | 501 | 439 |
| Northeast | 39 | 31 | 41 | 21.9 | 34 | 24 | 28 |
| Midwest | 84 | 88 | 71 | 23.5 | 67 | 61 | 60 |
| South | 323 | 318 | 328 | 5.9 | 318 | 285 | 244 |
| West | 175 | 150 | 145 | 32.6 | 143 | 128 | 108 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 315,100 | 293,100 | 308,000 | 1.2 | 310,333 | 297,258 | 283,775 |
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.
More Economy in Brief
