Sales of new single-family homes came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 536,000 in December, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The rate was -10.4% below the upward-revised November rate of 598,000, and -0.4% below the December 2015 estimate of 538,000. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a far more modest drop of 1.5%.
Three of four regions reported a decline in sales month-over-month, with the Midwest reporting the sharpest decline of -41.0% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 49,000. New home sales in the South and West declined -12.6% and -1.3%, respectively. The Northeast was the only region that saw sales increase over the course of last month, rising 48.4% to a rate of 46,000.
The median sales price of new homes sold in December 2016 was $322,500, up from $309,200 in November, and $299,000 a year prior. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of December was 259,000, representing a supply of 5.8 months at the current sales rate.
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New homes priced from $200,000 to $299,999, and from $300,000 to $399,000 were the most popular price ranges in December, following the trend seen the past 11 months. In contrast, sales of affordable, entry-level homes continued to decline, due in part to the tight inventory for more affordable homes seen across the board.
Read the full release from the Census Bureau here >>
