Global| Sep 25 2013U.S. New Home Sales Recover Moderately As Prices Drop Further
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New home sales during August gained 7.9% to 421,000 after a 14.1% July decline to 390,000, initially reported as 394,000. The figure roughly matched expectations for 418,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These volume [...]
New home sales during August gained 7.9% to 421,000 after a 14.1% July decline to 390,000, initially reported as 394,000. The figure roughly matched expectations for 418,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These volume figures are quoted at seasonally adjusted annual rates.
Sales mostly improved around the country. In the Midwest, the 19.6% sales gain to 61,000 (15.1% y/y) paced the country's improvement. That was followed by the South where sales rose 15.3% to 241,000 (28.2% y/y). Sales in the Northeast gained 8.8% to 37,000 (27.6% y/y), however new home purchases in the West fell 14.6% to 82,000 (-21.2% y/y), the lowest level since March of last year.
The median price of a new home declined 0.7% to $254,600 (+0.6% y/y) which was the lowest level since January. The average price of a new home ticked up 0.1% during August to $318,900, up 4.4% from a year ago.
The inventory of unsold homes rose roughly one-quarter y/y but the months' sales supply of new homes fell to 5.0 and eased off its recent high. The length of time to sell a new home fell further last month to 3.0 months, a new cycle low which compared to 14.0 months at the end of 2009.
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.
| U.S. New Home Sales | Aug | Jul | Jun | Y/Y | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total SAAR, 000s | 421 | 390 | 454 | 12.6 | 368 | 306 | 321 |
| Northeast | 37 | 34 | 35 | 27.6 | 29 | 21 | 31 |
| Midwest | 61 | 51 | 58 | 15.1 | 47 | 45 | 45 |
| South | 241 | 209 | 245 | 28.2 | 196 | 168 | 173 |
| West | 82 | 96 | 116 | -21.2 | 97 | 72 | 74 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 254,600 | 256,300 | 256,600 | 0.6 | 242,108 | 224,317 | 221,242 |
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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