U.S. New Home Sales Fall for the Third Straight Month in March
Summary
- 763,000 units SAAR in March, a four-month low; upward revisions to February and January.
- Sales drops are widespread in all the major regions, especially in the South.
- Median sales price rebounds to a record high.
New single-family home sales fell 8.6% m/m (-12.6% y/y) to 763,000 units at an annual rate in March after drops of 1.2% to 835,000 in February (initially 772,000) and 3.0% to 845,000 in January (previously 788,000), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The March level was the lowest since November. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 774,000 sales in March. Supply continues its revival as the number of new homes for sale rose to 407,000 in March, the highest level since August 2008, from 392,000 in February.
By region, sales in March fell in all the major regions. Sales in the South slid 10.2% (-24.7% y/y) to 414,000 at an annual rate after a 1.1% decline to 461,000, registering the third consecutive monthly slide to the lowest level since October. Sales in the Midwest dropped 8.7% (-13.8% y/y) to 94,000, reversing a 9.6% gain to 103,000. Sales in the West fell 6.0% (+21.0% y/y) to 202,000, the third straight m/m fall to a five-month low, after a 14.3% decrease to 215,000. Sales in the Northeast declined 5.4% (+12.8% y/y) to 53,000 after having recovered 64.7% to 56,000.
The median price of a new home rebounded 3.6% (21.4% y/y) to a record high $436,700 in March following a 2.2% decline to $421,600 in February. The average sales price of a new home increased 3.1% (26.3% y/y), the third successive m/m rise to a record high $523,900. These sales price data are not seasonally adjusted.
The seasonally adjusted supply of new homes for sale rose to 6.4 months in March, the highest since October, from 5.6 in February. The record low was 3.5 months in August, September and October of 2020. The median number of months a new home stayed on the market edged up to 3.0 months in March from 2.9 in February. The record low was October's 2.5 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.
Winnie Tapasanun
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Winnie Tapasanun has been working for Haver Analytics since 2013. She has ~20 years of working in the financial services industry. As Vice President and Economic Analyst at Globicus International, Inc., a New York-based company specializing in macroeconomics and financial markets, Winnie oversaw the company’s business operations, managed financial and economic data, and wrote daily reports on macroeconomics and financial markets. Prior to working at Globicus, she was Investment Promotion Officer at the New York Office of the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) where she wrote monthly reports on the U.S. economic outlook, wrote reports on the outlook of key U.S. industries, and assisted investors on doing business and investment in Thailand. Prior to joining the BOI, she was Adjunct Professor teaching International Political Economy/International Relations at the City College of New York. Prior to her teaching experience at the CCNY, Winnie successfully completed internships at the United Nations. Winnie holds an MA Degree from Long Island University, New York. She also did graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York and doctoral requirements at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her areas of specialization are international political economy, macroeconomics, financial markets, political economy, international relations, and business development/business strategy. Her regional specialization includes, but not limited to, Southeast Asia and East Asia. Winnie is bilingual in English and Thai with competency in French. She loves to travel (~30 countries) to better understand each country’s unique economy, fascinating culture and people as well as the global economy as a whole.
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