New Home Sales

New Home Prices Hit Record Highs

The Census Bureau reported new home sales for July at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000. That was a bit better than official estimates, but still down 27 percent from the same time a year ago. New home prices hit all-time highs in July. The median price of a new home contracted last month rose to $390,500. The average price of new construction hit a new record high of $446,000. The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of July was 367,000. That figure is a bit misleading because a huge [...]

New Home Sales Rise in March with Continued Fed Stimulus

New home sales continued at a solid pace in March as the Fed poured more stimulus into the markets. The Census Bureau reported new home sales for March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,021,000. According to Census figures the median price of a new home rose to $330,800. The average price of a new home hit $397,800. The supply of new homes fell to 3.6 months. Stripping out the adjustments, the inventory situation is much worse than that. Inventory under construction is near normal levels, but completed inventory is at record lows. Massive [...]

New Home Sales Soften With Higher Rates and Prices

New home sales softened in February with higher interest rates and record high prices. It didn't help that many markets in the U.S. are still sitting on record low inventories. The Census Bureau reported new home sales for the month of February at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 775,000 units. That was well below forecasts, but previous months were revised higher. The median price of a new house sold in February 2021 was $349,400. The average sales price of a new home reached a new record high of $416,000. Combine those high prices and [...]

New Home Sales Exceed Expectations With Powell Priming The Pump

The Census Bureau reported new home sales for January at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 923,000 units. That's a 4.3 percent increase from revised December figures and 19.3 percent higher than January of last year. Previous months were also revised higher. The median price of a new home came in at $346,400. The average price of a new home contracted in January was $408,800. That's a new record high for average new home prices in the U.S....in January. The supply of new homes available for sale dipped to 4.0 months. New home sales in [...]

New Home Sales Rise Slightly, Up 15.2 Percent Year-over-Year

New home sales rose 1.6 percent in December according to Census estimates. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 842,000 translates into a 15.2 percent increase from December of 2019. The median price of a new home sold in December 2020 was $355,900. The average price was $394,900. The median price of a new U.S. home rose $26,400, or 8 percent in the middle of a global pandemic even as millions of Americans were losing their jobs. If that's not a testament to the power of central bank liquidity, I don't know what is. The inventory [...]

New Home Sales Revised Lower In November

New home sales were revised lower in November. The Census Bureau reported new home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 841,000 units last month. New home sales were still up 20.8% compared to last year, but sales dropped 11 percent from the revised October figure of 945,000 units. August and September were also revised lower. Let's dig into the numbers and find out what happened. The median price of a new home in the U.S. stood at $335,300. The average price was $390,100. Months of supply for new homes stood at 4.1 [...]

New Home Sales Level Off With Rates Near Record Lows

New home sales have leveled off now that mortgage interest rates stagnating at record lows. It would appear the massive stimulus from the Fed which began in March of this year has run its course. The big question is what comes next. The Census Bureau reported new residential home sales for October at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 999,000 units. This was better than expected and previous months were revised upward as well. Compared to October of last year, new home sales rose 41 percent. Median and average prices of new homes sold (contracted) [...]

New Home Sales in September Lighter Than Expected

New home sales for September came in a little lighter than analysts expected. The Census Bureau reported new home sales for September at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 959,000. This was down from August numbers which were revised lower. Despite missing expectations, September new home sales were still up 32.1 percent from last year. The summer and fall of 2020 have seen an incredible run for new home construction in the United States. It has been an incredible run considering the economic backdrop. While the median price of a new home rose slightly [...]

New Home Sales Highest Since 2006

New home sales for August came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 1,011,000 units. This was above expectations depending on who you were asking. The August figures from Census put U.S. new home sales up 4.8 percent from July, and up a whopping 43.2 percent from August 2019. New home sales were at the highest levels since 2006. Previous months were also revised higher. The median price of a new home in August was $312,800. The average price came in at $369,000. Both figures are lower than prices for July and down [...]

New Home Sales Soar In July To 901,000 SAAR

New home sales for July soared to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 901,000. That was the best showing for the new home market since 2007 as sales increased 13.9 percent for the month and 36.3 percent compared to July 2019. Both median and average prices jumped, rising $330,600 and $391,300 respectively. The supply of new homes plummeted to 3.9 months looking at the unadjusted numbers. Record low mortgage rates and $trillions in stimulus courtesy of the Federal Reserve's Covid-19 bailouts have proven to be the perfect recipe for home price inflation this summer. [...]

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