Steel Markets
New Home Sales Drop Sharply in December
Written by Sandy Williams
January 25, 2017
New residential sales of single-family homes fell 10.4 percent from November’s revised rate of 598,000 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 536,000 in December. The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development reports year-over-year sales were down 0.4 percent.
The drop in December was much sharper than expected by economists. Wall Street Journal economics expected a decrease of 1.5 percent while Reuters expected a dip of just 1.0 percent.
The median price of new homes in December was $322,500 and the average sales price was $384,000. Inventory stands at a seasonally adjusted estimate of 259,000 houses at the end of December. At the currently sales rate, this represents a supply of 5.8 months.
For the year 2016, an estimated 563,000 new homes were sold, a 12.2 percent increase from 2015.
Sandy Williams
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