U.S. New Home Sales Decline in April
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Sales are down versus early last year.
- Regional sales are mixed.
- Median sales price eases
New single-family home sales weakened 4.7% (-7.7% y/y) during April to 634,000 (SAAR) from 665,000 in March, revised from 693,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Despite the decline, the April reading remained up from its November low of 611,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected sales of 675,000 new homes. Sales remained 38.5% below their peak of 1.031 million in October 2020.
By region, new home sales were mixed last month. In the Northeast, they fell 20.9% in April to 34,000, the third consecutive monthly decline and unchanged y/y. Sales in the West declined 7.3% (-5.0% y/y) to 153,000 after rising 7.1% in March. Sales in the South weakened 4.8% (-15.1% y/y) to 359,000 after rising 5.3% in March. Moving the other way, new home sales in the Midwest improved 10.0% (27.5% y/y) to 88,000 after increasing 8.1% in March.
The median sales price of a new home fell 1.4% (+3.9% y/y) to $433,500 in April following a 5.2% March increase. The median sales price remained 5.8% below its October 2022 peak of $460,300. The average sales price of a new home weakened 4.1% (+1.0% y/y) to $505,700 in April. These sales price data are not seasonally adjusted.
The number of unsold new homes on the market rose 2.1% (12.1% y/y) to 480,000 in April, the fourth consecutive monthly rise. It was the highest level since January 2008. The latest figure was well above a low of 282,000 in October 2020. The seasonally adjusted months' supply of new homes for sale rose to 9.1 months in April, down from a high of 10.6 months in July 2022.
The median number of months a new home stayed on the market declined to 2.3 months in April, the lowest level since September of last year. The reading remained up from the record low of 1.5 months in both September and October of 2022 but down from a high of 5.1 months in March 2021. These figures date back to January 1975.
New home sales are recorded when the sales contract is signed. New home sales activity and prices are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.
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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