Steel Markets
Surprising Decline in New Home Sales in May
Written by Sandy Williams
June 25, 2019
Sales of new single-family homes in May slipped 7.8 percent from April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000. Sales were down 3.7 percent from May 2018, said the latest report from Commerce.
The median price for new homes sold last month was $308,000 and the average price $377,200. Inventory, estimated at 333,000 homes for sale at the end of May, represented a supply of 6.4 months at the current sales rate.
Regionally, sales increased 6.3 percent in the Midwest and 4.9 percent in the South. The Northeast and West saw sales drop by double digits in May, at -17.6 percent and -35.9 percent, respectively.
“This was a surprising drop due to recent softening of mortgage interest rates and continued low unemployment,” commented National Association of Home Builders Chief Economist Robert Dietz “Recent months’ data have been relatively positive, with the revised March pace of 705,000 being the second highest since the Great Recession. We expect a gain in June on lower interest rates, with possible upward revisions for the May estimates.
“The decline in May is off recent trends,” added Dietz.” However, for the first five months of the year, new home sales are 4 percent ahead of the sales pace of the initial five months of 2018.”
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets
Thin demand keeps plate prices hovering at lowest levels since February
Participants in the domestic plate market say spot prices appear to have hit the floor, and they continue to linger there. They say demand for steel remains thin, with plate products no exception.
Worldsteel: Global steel demand flat, but modest rebound forecast for 2026
The World Steel Association (worldsteel) Short Range Outlook for global steel demand predicts that 2025’s steel demand will clock in at the same level as in 2024. In its October report, the Brussels-based association stated that this year’s steel demand will reach ~1,750 million metric tons (mt). The organization forecasts a 1.3% demand rebound in 2026, pushing […]
CRU: China’s indirect steel exports find new destination markets
The boom in China’s direct steel exports has not stopped this year, even with a rise in protectionist measures globally. The increase is driven by...
Great Lakes iron ore cargoes down in September as Cleveland tonnage slips
Iron ore shipments from US Great Lakes ports fell sharply in September, per the latest from the Lake Carriers’ Association (LCA) of Westlake, Ohio.
HVAC equipment shipments down through August
Although total HVAC shipments fell in August, YTD volumes remain relatively strong. Nearly 15 million units were produced in the first eight months of the year, the fourth-highest rate in our 19-year data history.