Sales of new single‐family houses in October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 745,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 0.4% above the revised September rate of 742,000 but is 23.1% below the October 2020 estimate of 969,000.
“Today’s new-home sales report captures the lingering challenges in the market ranging from low community count to depressed vacant developed lot inventory and a persistent labor and material shortage,” says Ali Wolf, chief economist at Zonda. “The market still has some momentum, though, as demand remains intact and mortgage rate urgency picks up.”
The median sales price of new homes sold in October was $407,700, while the average sales price was $477,800.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 389,000 at the end of October, representing a 6.3-month supply at the current sales rate.
“We believe the primary constraints on sales remain the supply chain disruptions and labor scarcity slowing the pace of completions,” says Mark Palim, deputy chief economist at Fannie Mae. “We expect that builders will be able to gradually work through their order backlogs as these conditions ease, supporting increases to new-home sales during the rest of Q4 and into 2022.”
