U.S. New Home Sales Rebound in August
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Home sales stand at highest level since March.
- Sales rise throughout country.
- Median sales price declines sharply.
New single-family home sales during August rose 28.8% (-0.1% y/y) to 685,000 (AR) after falling 8.6% to 532,000 in July, revised from 511,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 500,000 sales in August.
A two-thirds sales increase (-21.9% y/y) in the Northeast to 25,000 led last month's overall rise, following no change in July sales. Home sales in the South jumped 29.4% (10.4% y/y) to 467,000, the highest level this year. Home sales in the West improved 27.5% (-24.0% y/y) to 130,000, the highest level in three months. In the Midwest, sales increased 16.7% (5.0% y/y) to 63,000, recovering most of July's fall.
The median price of a new home declined 6.3% during August (+8.0% y/y) to $436,800 following an 8.9% July gain. The average sales price of a new home weakened 6.3% (+11.0% y/y) to $521,800 following a 19.2% July rise. These sales price data are not seasonally adjusted.
Sales weakness accompanied a 0.4% increase (23.3% y/y) in the number of unsold new homes to a seasonally adjusted 461,000, up from a low of 142,000 in July 2012. The seasonally adjusted months' supply of new homes for sale declined to 8.1 months from 10.4 months in July. The median number of months a new home stayed on the market plunged to a record low of 1.7 months. These figures date back to January 1975.
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.
Global