Sales of new single-family homes in January were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 923,000, according to estimates released by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 4.3% above the revised December rate of 885,000 and is 19.3% above the January 2020 estimate of 774,000.
“While some of the monthly increase may be due to warmer than seasonally typical weather, the further rise in sales continues to illustrate strength in demand for new homes,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. “We believe near historically low mortgage rates and the extremely tight inventory of existing homes for sale have shifted demand into the new-home market. New-home sales were up 18.6% from the previous year.”
The median sales price of new houses sold in January was $346,400, while the average sales price was $408,800.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new homes for sale was 307,000 at the end of January, representing a four-month supply at the current sales rate.
“In part because of upward historical revisions, we will likely be upgrading our near-term, new-home sales forecast,” continues Duncan. “However, due to unseasonably cold weather over the month of February and the related power outages, the next data release could show a significant pullback from today’s report.”
