New Home Sales Show Annual Gains

By:
Peter King | November 28, 2011

Sales of newly-built single-family homes showed a modest increase in October, rising 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 307,000 units, the Department of Commerce announced today.

That’s up from a revised September estimate of 303,000 units and represents an 8.9 percent annual gain from the figure of 282,000 for October 2010.
 

Still well below historic levels

 
Despite the annual increase, sales remain extremely weak by historic norms, running at less than one-quarter of the market peak in 2005. Over the past 18 months, new home sales have been stuck at their lowest levels in nearly 50 years of recordkeeping, with all 18 lower than in any other month prior to that period since the Census Bureau began tracking the data in 1963.
 
The median sales price for new homes was $212,300, up from $204,200 one year ago. At the same time, average sales prices were down compared to last year, to $242,300, down from $254,400 in October 2010.
 

West, Midwest post strong increases

 
On a regional basis, new home sales were up strongly over the past year in the West and Midwest, but down sharply in the Northeast. New home sales in the West were up by 54 percent compared to October 2010, and were up by 37.5 percent in the Midwest over the same period. The Northeast, meanwhile, saw an annual decline of 26.7 percent through October 2011.
 
The South, which currently accounts for just over half of the nation’s new home sales, saw an annual decline of 5.6 percent .
 
 

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