Sales of new single‐family houses in November were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 640,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 5.8% above the revised October rate of 605,000, exceeding expectations. However, sales were 15.3% below the November 2021 estimate of 756,000.
“The new-home community has been through a lot since 2018 with different interest rate shocks, a global pandemic, supply chain issues, a historic rate of home price growth, and some irrational exuberance,” says Zonda chief economist Ali Wolf. “Today’s data shows that consumers are putting some of the uncertainty behind them and taking advantage of the builder-funded incentives and price cuts to help secure a home.”
The Midwest and West led the month-over-month gains, increasing by 21.3% and 27.6%, respectively. However, sales of new single-family homes declined by 8.5% in the Northeast and 2.1% in the South.
The median sales price of new homes sold in November was $471,200, while the average sales price was $543,600.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 461,000 at the end of November, representing an 8.6-month supply at the current sales rate.
