New Home Sales Rise in July

(Image courtesy U.S. Census Bureau)

New single-family home sales for July hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 714,000, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in a release.

That result is 4.4% above the revised June rate of 684,000 and up 31.5% from the July 2022 estimate of 543,000.

The median sales price was $436,700, and the average price was $513,000. Those are up slightly from June, when the median sales price was $415,400 and the average sales price was $494,700.

New home sales remain somewhat of a boon in a market where existing home sales are increasingly tight–the National Association of Realtors recently reported that existing home sales fell 2.2% in July.

“New home inventory as a share of total home inventory in July reached nearly 31%. From 2000 until the pandemic, new homes on average made up about 11% of total inventory. When existing homes are hard to find, new homes at the right price are a good substitute,” First American Deputy Chief Economist Odeta Kushi said.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale at the end of the  month was 437,000, a supply of 7.3 months at the current sales rate.

“The number of homes for sale that have not yet been started rose 11.3% to 108,000, the highest level in survey history, suggesting housing starts could remain robust over the coming months if demand remains sufficient,” said Doug Duncan, Chief Economist at Fannie Mae.