Briefing.com: New Home Sales

Updated: 26-Sep-23 10:39 ET

August New Home Sales

Updated: 26-Sep-23 10:39 ET

Highlights

New home sales declined 8.7% month-over-month in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 675,000 units (Briefing.com consensus 695,000) from an upwardly revised 739,000 (from 714,000) in July.
On a year-over-year basis, new home sales were up 5.8%.

Key Factors

The median sales price declined 2.3% yr/yr to $430,300 while the average sales price declined 3.2% to $514,000.
New home sales month-over-month/year-over-year by region: Northeast (+6.7%/+18.5%); Midwest (-17.2%/+24.2%); South (-7.5%/-9.2%); and West (-9.4%/+44.1%).
At the current sales pace, the supply of new homes for sale stood at 7.8 months, versus 7.0 months in July and 8.7 months in August 2022.
The percentage of new homes sold for $399,999 or less accounted for 40% of new homes sold versus 38% in July and 39% one year ago. Homes priced between $400,000 and $749,000 accounted for 45% of new homes sold versus 52% in July. New homes priced at $750,000 or over accounted for 15% of sales in August versus 10% in July.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that new home sales activity, which is measured on signed contracts, is being adversely impacted by high mortgage rates that have hurt affordability.