The Department of Housing and Urban
Development and the U.S. Census Bureau had more good news for housing this
morning. Sales of newly constructed single-family
houses increased by 4.4 percent in November, to a seasonally adjusted rate of
377,000 units. This is an increase of
15.3 percent from the rate in November 2011 and is the ninth time in the last
12 months that sales have increased.
October sales were revised downward to 361,000 from the 368,000
originally reported.
The median price of new houses sold in
November was $246,200 compared to $214,300 in November 2011. The average sales price in November was
$299,700 compared to $250,000 a year earlier.
The inventory of unsold homes continues
to decline. At the end of November there
were 149,000 homes on the market, a 4.7 month supply at the current rate of
sales. This is a -4.1 percent change
from October and 17.5 percent lower than in November 2011 where there were
155,000 homes for sale, a 5.7 month inventory.
There were major
month-over-month swings in the pace of sales in the four regions; both positive
and negative changes reached double digits.
In the Northeast sales were at an annual adjusted rate of 27,000 units,
up 12.5 percent from October and 68.8 percent higher than one year
earlier. Sales in the South were at an
annual rate of 12,000, up 21.1 percent from October and 17.2 percent
annually. The West is on a pace to sell
149,000 homes, down 17.8 percent from the previous month but up 13.7 percent
since November 2011. In the Midwest sales
were down 12.5 percent in October to a rate of 49,000 units and the Midwest was
the only region where sales lagged behind those of a year earlier, a -5.8
percent change.
New Home Sales