Global| Aug 23 2017U.S. New Home Sales Decline Unexpectedly
Summary
Sales of new single-family homes in July fell 9.4% to 571,000 following an upwardly revised June gain of 1.9% to 630,000. The latter was revised from 610,000. The July volume was the lowest since December's 548,000. Expectations in [...]
Sales of new single-family homes in July fell 9.4% to 571,000 following an upwardly revised June gain of 1.9% to 630,000. The latter was revised from 610,000. The July volume was the lowest since December's 548,000. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey had envisioned 610,000 sales, which would have been unchanged from the original June report.
The median price of a new home rose 0.7% (6.3% y/y) to $313,700. June's median price was revised upward modestly to $311,600. The average price of a new home rose 0.3% (+4.6% y/y) to $371,200.
The July drop in home sales was spread around much of the country. In fact, the only region with a gain was the Midwest, where sales rose 6.2% to 69,000 (-12.7% y/y); June sales there had risen 1.6% to 65,000. The other three regions saw declines, a couple of them quite sizable. In the Northeast, sales amounted to 32,000, down 23.8% (-13.5% y/y) from June's 42,000, when they had risen 2.4%. Those in the West totaled 144,000, down 21.3% in the month (up 1.4% y/y), a reversal of June's 16.6% gain. Sales in the South, the region with the largest volume of sales, were 326,000, off 4.1% from June (-11.7% y/y), which, in turn, was off 4.5% from May.
The months' supply of homes for sale at the current sales rate was 5.8, up from June's 5.2 months, and the highest since September 2015, when it was also 5.8 months. The median number of months a new home was on the market was unchanged from June at 2.9 and the lowest since the same amount in December 2015.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure from Action Economics is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | Jul | Jun | May | Jul Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 571 | 630 | 618 | -8.9 | 561 | 503 | 440 |
| Northeast | 32 | 42 | 41 | -13.5 | 32 | 25 | 28 |
| Midwest | 69 | 65 | 64 | -12.7 | 69 | 61 | 58 |
| South | 326 | 340 | 356 | -11.7 | 317 | 286 | 244 |
| West | 144 | 183 | 157 | 1.4 | 142 | 130 | 110 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 313,700 | 311,600 | 322,800 | 6.3 | 310,567 | 297,258 | 283,775 |
Carol Stone, CBE
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Carol Stone, CBE came to Haver Analytics in 2003 following more than 35 years as a financial market economist at major Wall Street financial institutions, most especially Merrill Lynch and Nomura Securities. She has broad experience in analysis and forecasting of flow-of-funds accounts, the federal budget and Federal Reserve operations. At Nomura Securites, among other duties, she developed various indicator forecasting tools and edited a daily global publication produced in London and New York for readers in Tokyo. At Haver Analytics, Carol is a member of the Research Department, aiding database managers with research and documentation efforts, as well as posting commentary on select economic reports. In addition, she conducts Ways-of-the-World, a blog on economic issues for an Episcopal-Church-affiliated website, The Geranium Farm. During her career, Carol served as an officer of the Money Marketeers and the Downtown Economists Club. She has a PhD from NYU's Stern School of Business. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a weekend home on Long Island.
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