Global| Oct 25 2017U.S. New Home Sales & Prices Recover
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
Sales of new single-family homes increased 18.9% (17.0% y/y) during September to 667,000 (AR) from 561,000 in August, revised from 560,000. September sales were at the highest level since October 2007. Expectations in the Action [...]
Sales of new single-family homes increased 18.9% (17.0% y/y) during September to 667,000 (AR) from 561,000 in August, revised from 560,000. September sales were at the highest level since October 2007. Expectations in the Action Economics Forecast Survey had been for 550,000 sales.
The median price of a new home recovered 5.2% (1.6% y/y) to $319,700 from $303,800. The average price of a new home gained 5.7% (5.2% y/y) to $385,200.
Movement in home sales was positive around the country. New home sales in the Northeast jumped by one-third to 48,000 after a 9.3% drop. It was the highest level of sales since January 2008. Sales in the South surged 25.8% to 405,000 following declines in four of the prior five months. In the Midwest, sales increased 10.6% to 73,000, the highest level since April. Sales improved 2.9% in the West to 141,000, but remained near the lowest level since October of last year.
There was a diminished 5.0 months' supply of homes for sale at the current sales rate. It equaled the lowest level since July 2016. The median number of months a new home was on the market remained depressed at 3.2 months.
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.
Missing Growth from Creative Destruction from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco can be found here.
| U.S. New Single-Family Home Sales (SAAR, 000s) | Sep | Aug | Jul | Sep Y/Y % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 667 | 561 | 582 | 17.0 | 561 | 503 | 440 |
| Northeast | 48 | 36 | 40 | 54.8 | 32 | 25 | 28 |
| Midwest | 73 | 66 | 67 | -2.7 | 69 | 61 | 58 |
| South | 405 | 322 | 325 | 23.1 | 317 | 286 | 244 |
| West | 141 | 137 | 150 | 4.4 | 142 | 130 | 110 |
| Median Price (NSA, $) | 319,700 | 303,800 | 323,600 | 1.6 | 310,567 | 297,258 | 283,775 |
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.
