Briefing.com: New Home Sales

Updated: 24-Jul-20 10:27 ET

June New Home Sales

Updated: 24-Jul-20 10:27 ET

Highlights

New home sales surged 13.8% m/m in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 776,000 (Briefing.com consensus 680,000). That was the strongest pace of sales since July 2007 and higher than the pre-pandemic pace of 774,000 seen in January.
On a yr/yr basis, new home sales were up 13.7%.

Key Factors

The median sales price increased 5.6% yr/yr to $329,200 while the average sales price increased 6.3% to $384,700.
New home sales by region: Northeast (+89.7%); Midwest (+10.5%); South (+7.2%); and West (+18.0%).
The huge uptick in sales in the Northeast is presumably a reflection of the increased demand to move out of large, urban settings due to the coronavirus experience in favor of suburban homes.
At the current sales pace, the supply of new homes for sale stood at 4.7 months versus 5.5 months in May.
The percentage of new homes sold for $399,999 or less accounted for 68% of new homes sold, versus 73% in May and 72% in the same period a year ago.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that sales activity in the new home market is quite healthy given the tight supply of existing homes for sale, low mortgage rates, pent-up demand, and an emerging, coronavirus-driven shift by city dwellers to suburban settings.