U.S. New Home Sales Strengthen in December
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Sales are highest since March.
- Strengthening is pronounced in Midwest & South.
- Median sales price declines sharply.
New single-family home sales rose 11.9% (-14.0% y/y) in December to 811,000 (AR) from 725,000 in November, revised from 744,000. During all of 2021, sales fell to 765,000 from 828,000 in 2020. December sales remained below the January 2021 peak of 993,000. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 763,000 sales in December.
By region, December sales in the Midwest rose 56.4% (-23.2% y/y) to 86,000 after falling 16.7% in November. In the South, sales rose 14.9% (-17.5% y/y) to 456,000 following a 1.5% November gain. In the West, sales edged 0.4% higher (2.1% y/y) to 242,000 following a 47.9% November surge. Falling by 15.6% (-34.1% y/y) to 27,000 were sales in the Northeast after they rose 10.3% in November.
The median price of a new home declined 9.2% (+3.4% y/y) in December to $377,700. It was the lowest price in six months. The average sales price of a new home fell 4.6% (+13.8% y/y) to $457,300. These sales price data are not seasonally adjusted.
The supply of new homes for sale fell to 6.0 months in December from 6.6 months in November. This compares with 3.8 months in December 2020. The median number of months a new home stayed on the market eased to 2.8 from 2.9 months in November. 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.
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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