Steel Markets

New Home Sales Accelerate in September

October 25, 2017

New home sales in September jumped 18.9 percent from last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Census Bureau. September sales were 17 percent higher than a year ago.

The median sales price was $319,700 and the average sales price $385,200.

Inventory of new homes for sale at the end of September was 279,000, a 5.0 month supply at the current sales rate.

Sales jumped 33.3 percent in the Northeast followed by a 24.8 percent gain in the South. Midwest sales were 10.6 percent higher and the West posted a gain of 2.9 percent.

“The September sales numbers show that there is solid, growing demand for new home construction,” said Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “However, builders need to continue to monitor rising construction costs to keep houses affordably priced.”

“New home sales have bounced back from a few soft months and have returned to the strong growth trend we saw earlier this year,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “As existing home inventory remains tight, we can expect new homes sales to continue to make gains in the months ahead.”