Steel Markets
New Home Sales Rebound in June
Written by Sandy Williams
July 25, 2019
Sales of new homes rebounded in June after two months of decline, says new data released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday. Sales of new single-family homes were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 646,000 last month, a 7.0 percent increase from the revised May number and 4.5 percent higher than a year ago.
The median sales price was $310,400 and the average price $368,000. Inventory of 338,000 new houses at the end of June represents a supply of 6.3 months at the current sales rate.
“Though there is a clear demand for new homes, builders continue to wrestle with affordability headwinds, including shortages of buildable lots and skilled labor, that are constraining sales,” said NAHB Chairman Greg Ugalde.
“The June figures are in line with our forecast predicting a modest 3.5 percent growth in new home sales for 2019, due largely to affordability concerns,” said NAHB Economist Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington.
On a year-over-year basis, new home sales are 19.4 percent higher in the West and 9.5 percent higher in the South. Sales are down 50 percent in the Northeast and 17.6 percent in the Midwest.
Sandy Williams
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