Global| May 23 2014U.S. New Home Sales Recover; Prices Drop
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
New home sales during April increased 6.4% m/m to 433,000 (AR) from a revised 407,000 in March, initially reported as 384,000. Sales remained 5.7% below the peak in June of last year. The latest figure beat expectations for 425,000 [...]
New home sales during April increased 6.4% m/m to 433,000 (AR) from a revised 407,000 in March, initially reported as 384,000. Sales remained 5.7% below the peak in June of last year. The latest figure beat expectations for 425,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These volume numbers are quoted at seasonally adjusted annual rates.
Sales improvement mostly reflected a 47.4% rise (35.5% y/y) in the Midwest to 84,000, the highest level since late-2007. In the South sales rose 3.1% (-9.6% y/y) to 235,000 and in the West sales were unchanged (-6.1% y/y) at 92,000. In the Northeast sales fell by more than one-quarter m/m to 22,000 (-31.3% y/y), the lowest level since June 2012.
The median price for a new home fell 2.1% to $275,800 (-1.3% y/y) from a downwardly-revised $281,700. The average price of a new home declined 2.0% (-5.0% y/y) to $320,100, the lowest level since August.
The inventory of unsold homes ticked 0.5% higher (19.3%) to the highest level since November 2010. The months' sales supply of new homes slipped to 5.3 while the length of time to sell a new home held steady m/m at 3.4 months, down from 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 | Apr | Mar | Feb | Y/Y % | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total SAAR, 000s | 433 | 407 | 437 | -4.2 | 430 | 368 | 306 |
| Northeast | 22 | 30 | 24 | -31.3 | 31 | 29 | 21 |
| Midwest | 84 | 57 | 57 | 35.5 | 61 | 47 | 45 |
| South | 235 | 228 | 261 | -9.6 | 233 | 196 | 168 |
| West | 92 | 92 | 95 | -6.1 | 106 | 97 | 72 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 275,800 | 281,700 | 264,500 | -1.3 | 265,092 | 242,108 | 224,317 |
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.
