New home sales registered another surge in March, rising 9.6% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 683,000 homes, according to data published Tuesday US Census Bureau And this Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This is the fourth consecutive month of decline in new home sales.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!However, on a year-over-year basis, new home sales are still down 3.4%.
“Buyers are beginning to adjust to higher mortgage rate levels, especially in areas where home prices have adjusted downward to compensate,” Kelly Mangold, principal RCLCO Real Estate Consulting, said in a statement. “Despite signs of economic uncertainty in March, which included reports of bank failures, buyers are still showing demand for new homes.”
The faster sales pace meant that inventories of unsold new homes continued to decline, falling from 436,000 in February to 432,000 in March. This represents 7.6 months’ supply at the current sales pace.
“The backlog of new construction homes from the building boom in 2021 is working its way into the market, offering new listings for buyers facing more competition on fewer homes,” Nicole Bachaud, of the district the senior economist said in a statement.
“While still down compared to new home sales a year ago, this surge in new inventory is critical to keeping the market on a healthy and sustainable trajectory, especially during this spring home shopping season. And although overall homebuilding activity has slowed in recent months with higher rates and slowing demand, a modest increase in single-family home construction may indicate that we may see this influx of new construction homes making their way into the market. Will continue to look into making it when it is needed. majority of.”
Rising demand for new homes also led to an increase in median sales prices, rising from $438,000 in February to $449,800 in March.
Regionally, sales momentum increased on a month-over-month basis in the Northeast (65,000 homes), the Midwest (71,000 homes) and the West (161,000 homes), with the Northeast recording the largest increase of 170.8%.
The South (386,000 homes) was the only region to fall on a monthly basis, recording a decline of 5.4%.
On an annual basis, all regions reported a decline in annual sales momentum except for the Northeast (+27.5%), with the Midwest recording the largest decline of 11.3%.
