Global| Jun 25 2012U.S. New Home Sales Improve; Prices Decline
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
The housing market is on the mend. New home sales jumped 7.6% in May to 369,000 following a 1.2% April decline. However, March sales were revised up. May sales beat consensus expectations for 346,000. A one-third rise (127.8% y/y) in [...]
The housing market is on the mend. New home sales jumped 7.6% in May to 369,000 following a 1.2% April
decline. However, March sales were revised up. May sales beat consensus
expectations for 346,000. A one-third rise (127.8% y/y) in sales in the
Northeast to 41,000 led last month's improvement followed by the South's
12.7% (16.6% y/y) gain to 204,000. Sales in both the Midwest, off 10.6%
(+2.4% y/y), and the West, off 3.5% (+10.8% y/y), fell.
The median price of a new single family home fell for the third straight month. The 0.6% m/m decline (+5.6% y/y) to $234,500, from a downwardly revised April, was to the lowest level since January. The average price fell 3.5% (+4.3% y/y) in May.
The length of time to sell a new home held m/m at 7.9 months in May. The inventory of unsold homes remained near the all time low at 145,000 units (-14.2% y/y). This is a 4.7-month supply at the current sales rate.
The data in this report are available in Haver's USECON database. The consensus expectation figure is from the Action Economics survey and is available in the AS1REPNA database.
| U.S. New Home Sales | May | Apr | Mar | Y/Y % | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (SAAR, 000s) | 369 | 343 | 347 | 19.8 | 307 | 321 | 374 |
| Northeast | 41 | 30 | 27 | 127.8 | 21 | 31 | 31 |
| Midwest | 42 | 47 | 42 | 2.4 | 45 | 45 | 54 |
| South | 204 | 181 | 201 | 16.6 | 169 | 173 | 202 |
| West | 82 | 85 | 77 | 10.8 | 72 | 74 | 87 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 234,500 | 236,000 | 239,500 | 5.6 | 224,317 | 221,242 | 214,500 |
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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