Steel Markets
South Sends New Home Sales Soaring in May
Written by Sandy Williams
June 25, 2018
New home sales took off in May, soaring 6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000 units from a downwardly revised April rate of 689,000, according to data from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau. May sales were at the second-highest level since the Great Recession, driven by sales in the South.
“Sales numbers continue to grow, spurred on by rising home equity, job growth and reports of a greater number of millennials entering the single-family housing market,” said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Randy Noel.
Median sales price in May was $313,000 and the average sales price for a new home was $368,500. Inventory was estimated at 299,000 new homes for sale at the end of May, a supply of 5.2 months at the current sales pace.
“We saw a shift to more moderately priced home sales this month, which is an encouraging sign for newcomers to the market,” said NAHB Senior Economist Michael Neal. “Since the end of the Great Recession, inventory has tracked the pace of sales growth. While we expect continued gains in single-family housing production, inventory may be partially constrained by ongoing price increases for lumber and other construction materials.”
New home sales were at a post-recession high of 17.9 percent in the South and were unchanged in the Midwest. Sales dropped 8.7 percent in the West and 10 percent in the Northeast.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets
GrafTech’s Q2 loss widens in ‘challenging’ business environment
GrafTech cited a “challenging” part of the business cycle as its net loss widened in the second quarter.
CRU: Poor steel margins continue to push down raw material prices
Both iron ore and coking coal prices fell this week because of resistance from buyers. Iron ore prices have continued to fall throughout the past week, following sharp declines in steel prices in China, given no new policy announcement from the ‘Third Plenum’ meeting.
Op-Ed: The myth of the Mexican steel surge
We have heard ominous warnings about a flood of Mexican steel threatening the US market. It's the kind of rhetoric that gets thrown around often with little regard for the facts. The reality is that the Mexican steel surge is simply not happening, and the US steel industry has consistently maintained a significant trade surplus in finished products with Mexico. In 2023 alone, this surplus exceeded $3 billion.
CRU: Demand weakness continues to weigh on global sheet markets
Demand has remained persistently weak across the globe for sheet steel, weighing on prices. US HR coil prices fell the furthest this week as high-volume, low-priced deals were transacted as mills looked to fill order books and competed with one another amid relative demand weakness. Meanwhile, European prices were also down due to low demand […]
Influx of coated products fuels recent import surge
Steel imports fell back in May from April’s recent high but remained elevated compared to the levels seen over the past year. A deeper dive into the data confirms what SMU has been hearing from sources: Coated sheet is driving the recent rise in overall import levels.