New Home Sales didn't Match February Pace

New home sales settled down a bit in March after a dramaticrnsurge in the Northeast in February that drove national sales figures up nearlyrn8 percent.  The Census Bureau and U.S.rnDepartment of Housing and Urban Development reported today that sales of newlyrnconstructed single family homes in March were at a seasonally adjusted annualrnrate of 481,000 units.  This was downrn11.4 percent from February’s sales, originally reported at 539,000 but revisedrneven higher to 543,000 with today’s report.</p

Sales for the month were up 19.4 percent compared to thernsame period in 2014.  The rate at thatrntime was estimated at 403,000 units.</p

On a non-adjusted basis there were 45,000 new homes sold inrnMarch, unchanged from February. rnThirty-nine thousand homes sold during the month of March in 2014. </p

The median price of a newly constructed home sold in Marchrnwas $277,400 and the average price was $343,300.  In March 2014 the relative figures werern$282,300 and $331,500.</p

Sales fell in three out of four of the country’srnregions.  In the Northeast the rate of sales,rnwhich was reportedly 152 percent higher in February than in January, fell backrnby 10,000 units or 33.3 percent in March and was down 20.0 percent from a year earlier.rn Sales of new homes increased 5.9 percentrnin the Midwest but were down 3.6 percent from a year earlier.  There was a 15.8 percent drop in sales in thernSouth compared to the previous month but the rate was 14.6 percent higher thanrna year earlier.  The West saw a 3.4rnpercent month-over-month decline but sales were up 57.3 percent on an annualrnbasis.</p

At the end of the period there were an estimated 213,000 newrnhomes for sale (seasonally adjusted), 1.9 percent more than in February.  This represents a 5.3 month supply at therncurrent rate of sales, up from a 4.6 month supply in February. Homes soldrnduring the month were on the market a median of 4.0 months.

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