Global| Aug 23 2012U.S. New Home Sales Recover As Prices Fall
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New home sales rose 3.6% in July to 372,000 from 359,000 during the prior month, revised from 350,000. The increase surpassed Consensus expectations for 360,000. Sales in the Northeast recovered most of a June plunge while sales in [...]
New home sales rose 3.6% in July to 372,000 from 359,000 during the prior month, revised from 350,000. The increase surpassed Consensus expectations for 360,000. Sales in the Northeast recovered most of a June plunge while sales in the Midwest rose moderately. Sales in the South fell for the third month in the last four and sales in the West slipped.
The median price of a new single family home fell to $224,200 (-2.5% y/y). The 2.1% m/m decline was the fourth drop in five months. The average price fell 1.4% to $263,200 (-2.6% y/y) during July.
The length of time to sell a new home increased sharply m/m to 8.7 months in July. The inventory of unsold homes remained near the all time low at 142,000 units (-13.9% y/y). This is a 4.6-month supply at the current sales rate, the lowest since late-2005.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure is from the Action Economics survey and is available in the AS1REPNA database.
Economic Effects of Reducing the Fiscal Restraint That is Scheduled to Occur in 2013 from the Congressional Budget Office is available here.
Consumer Debt and the Economic Recovery from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco can be found here.
| U.S. New Home Sales | Jul | Jun | May | Y/Y % | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (SAAR, 000s) | 372 | 359 | 372 | 25.3 | 307 | 321 | 374 |
| Northeast | 30 | 17 | 38 | 30.4 | 21 | 31 | 31 |
| Midwest | 56 | 52 | 48 | 21.7 | 45 | 45 | 54 |
| South | 180 | 183 | 189 | 9.1 | 169 | 173 | 202 |
| West | 106 | 107 | 97 | 68.3 | 72 | 74 | 87 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | $224,200 | 229,100 | 237,200 | -2.5 | 224,317 | 221,242 | 214,500 |
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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