New Home Sales Rise Slightly Less Than Expected, Inventory Stable

New home sales increased to 417,000 units on a seasonallyrnadjusted annual basis in March.  This wasrna 1.5 percent increase from the revised estimate of 411,000 units in Februaryrnand an increase of 18.5 percent from March 2012, but fell short of the consensus estimate at 420,000 units.</p

On a regional basis, sales in the Northeast jumped from arnpace of 34,000 homes in February to 41,000 in March, an increase of 20.6rnpercent.  Sales were up 32.3 percent on arnyear-over-year basis.</p

Sales in the Midwest lost ground, dropping 12.1 percent inrnMarch with sales at a rate of 51,000 units compared to 58,000 in February.  The March number was still an increase ofrn21.4 percent from a year earlier.</p

The pace of sales increased by 19.4 percent in the South torn215,000 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis from 180,000 in February.  March sales were 8.0 percent higher than inrnMarch 2012.</p

The West saw a decline of 20.9 percent in March sales.  The annual rate dropped from 139,000 inrnFebruary to 110,000 in March.  Sales inrnthe West were, however, 37.5 percent above same-month sales in 2012.</p

The inventory of new homes for sale was unchanged at 4.4rnmonths.  There were 153,000 homes forrnsale at the end of the period compared to 150,000 at the end of February andrn145,000 in March 2012, a 4.9 month supply. rnOf those 153,000 available homes 42,000 are considered to be completed.</p

The median price of homes sold in March was $247,000rncompared to 239,800 in March 2012.  Thernaverage prices for the two periods were 279,900 and 283,600.  Homes that sold in March were on the marketrnfor a median of five months after completion.

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