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Economy in Brief
UK Consumer Sentiment Hits Lowest Reading since 1996
(when the GFK survey began; also lowest reading 'ever')
Of these 13 readings eight of them declined on the month in May three of them improved and two of them were unchanged...
U.S. Existing Home Sales Continue to Fall in April as Houses Become Less Affordable
The combination of soaring home prices across the nation and rising interest rates is making homes less affordable...
U.S. Index of Leading Indicators Fell in April
Five of the index's components fell in April, one was unchanged and four increased...
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The state insured rates of unemployment in regular programs vary widely...
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The global economy has a lot of challenges...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
Profits and Margins Plunge In Q1: Expect More Margin Contraction As Fed Squeezes Inflation
The Many Links of Inflation Cycle: Hard Landing Is Needed to Crack Them
Peak Inflation and Fed Policy: A Relationship which Should Worry the Fed and Scare Investors
Why Have the Yields on TIPS Been Negative in the Past Two Years?
by Tom Moeller February 25, 2015
New home sales during January were little-changed at 481,000 (5.3% y/y) following 482,000 sales during December, initially reported as 481,000. The latest figure remained nearly the highest since June 2008 and surpassed expectations for 470,000 sales in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. These volume numbers are quoted at seasonally adjusted annual rates.
The median price for a new home in January declined 2.6% to $294,300 (+9.1 y/y), pulling back from the record high of $302,100 in December, revised from $298,100. The average price of a new home fell 8.0% to $348,300 (+3.3% y/y) from $378,700, revised from $377,800.
Sales in the Northeast fell by more than one-half (-50.0% y/y) to 15,000. Sales in the West declined 0.8% (+5.0% y/y) to 126,000. A 19.2% rise in Midwest sales to 62,000 (21.6% y/y) offset much of these declines. Sales in the South also gained 2.2% (8.6% y/y) to 278,000, the highest level since 2008.
The inventory of unsold homes increased 1.4% to 218,000 (15.3% y/y), the highest level since March 2010 and up by roughly one-half from the 2012 low. The months' sales supply of new homes fell m/m to 5.4 months versus last year's low of 3.9 months. The length of time to sell a new home moved slightly higher m/m to 3.3 months, but still was 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 from the Action Economics survey is available in the AS1REPNA database.
U.S. New Home Sales | Jan | Dec | Nov | Y/Y % | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total SAAR, 000s | 481 | 482 | 446 | 5.3 | 439 | 430 | 368 |
Northeast | 15 | 31 | 28 | -50.0 | 27 | 31 | 29 |
Midwest | 62 | 52 | 59 | 21.6 | 58 | 61 | 47 |
South | 278 | 272 | 232 | 8.6 | 245 | 233 | 195 |
West | 126 | 127 | 127 | 5.0 | 109 | 106 | 97 |
Median Price (NSA, $) | 294,300 | 302,100 | 298,300 | 9.1 | 282,300 | 265,092 | 242,108 |