September New Residential Sales Slump
New single-family home sales fell by nearly 12 percent in September to their lowest level since last November, well below estimates, HUD and the Census Bureau reported yesterday.
The report said single-family sales fell to 468,000, seasonally adjusted, in September, 11.5 percent below August’s revised 529,000 but 2.0 percent higher than a year ago (459,000).
Sales slumped across the board, led by a 61.8 percent drop in the Northeast, to just 13,000 units in September from August’s 34,000; from a year ago, sales fell by nearly 57 percent. In the South, sales fell by 8.7 percent to 274,000 from August’s revised 300,000 but improved by 8.3 percent from a year ago. In the West, sales fell by 6.7 percent to 126,000 units from August’s revised 135,000 but improved by 8.6 percent from a year ago. In the Midwest, sales fell by 8.3 percent to 55,000 units from August’s revised 60,000 and fell by the same amount from a year ago.
The report said the median sales price of new houses sold in September rose $296,900; the average sales price rose $364,100. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of September rose 225,000, the highest level in more than a year, representing 5.8 month supply at the current sales rate.
Despite the higher-than-expected drop, Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, N.C., said trends continued to be positive as fall numbers tend to be “especially volatile.”
“Despite the disappointing monthly reading, the overall trend in new home sales remains positive and is consistent with rising builder sentiment and existing home sales,” Vitner said. “Sales of new homes where construction has ‘not started’ jumped more than 20 percent year over year, suggesting the recovery has a bit more room to grow. Sales where properties are ‘under construction’ were also up relative to the previous year.”
