Sales in South Driving New Home Figures

New home sales were down again in July, declining byrn2.4 percent from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 412,000rnunits.  But the June rate of 406,000rnunits reported last month was revised upward significantly to 422,000 units. Julyrnsales were 12.3 percent above the annual rate in July 2013 of 367,000 units.</p

On an unadjusted basis there were 37,000 new homesrnsold in July compared to 40,000 in June and 33,000 in July 2013.   Salesrnfor 2014 through the end of July totaled 264,000 compared to year-to-date salesrna year earlier of 269,000. </p

On a seasonally adjusted annual basis the Northeastrnsaw sales slip by 30.8 percent from June and 43.8 percent from a yearrnearlier.  Sales in the Midwest declinedrn8.8 percent month over month and 1.9 percent year-over-year.  The West was also down for both periods, byrn15.2 and 3.3 percent respectively.  </p

The South was the sole region with positive numbersrnin July, up 8.1 percent from June and 33.2 percent from July 2013 and thernregion drove the national increase in sales. rnSales in the South on a seasonally adjusted annual basis were 253,000rnand on an unadjusted basis 23,000.  Bothrnnumbers represented significantly more than half of all sales in the U.S. inrnJuly.</p

The median price of a new house sold in July was $269,800rncompared to a median of $262,200 one year earlier.  The average price in July was $339,100, uprnfrom $329,900 in July 2013.</p

There were an estimated 205,000 newly constructedrnhomes for sale at the end of July compared to 197,000 at the end of June andrn171,000 in July 2013.  The currentrninventory of new homes is estimated at a 6.0 month supply at the currentrnabsorption rate.</p

Homes that sold during July were on the market arnmedian of 3.5 months compared to 3.4 months in June and 3.7 months in Julyrn2013.

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.