Sales of new single‐family houses in March were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 8.6% below the revised February rate of 835,000 and 12.6% below the March 2021 estimate of 873,000.
“This was the largest monthly decline in almost a year; however, the series tends to be volatile and follows large upward revisions to the January and February numbers,” says Mark Palim, deputy chief economist at Fannie Mae. “Taken as a whole, the first quarter saw 814,000 new homes sold on an annualized basis, the highest since Q1 2021 and slightly above our expectations.”
The median sales price of new homes sold in March was $436,700, while the average sales price was $523,900.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 407,000 at the end of March, representing a 6.4-month supply at the current sales rate.
“While we expect the rise in mortgage rates to eventually weigh on sales, the current strength of demand hitting up against large construction order backlogs should dampen the effect in the near term of higher mortgage rates, as there appears to be significant unmet home purchase demand,” continues Palim.
