After increasing 7.1% in August, new home sales in September fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 701,000, a decrease of 0.7% compared with a downwardly revised 706,000 in August but up 15.5% compared with about 607,000 in September 2018, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Regionally, and on a year-to-date basis, new home sales were up 12.8% in the South and 7.3% in the West but were down 10.3% in the Northeast and 10.6% in the Midwest.
The median sales price of a new home sold in September was $299,400.
The average sales price was $362,700.
As of the end of the month, there were about 321,000 new homes available for sale nationwide.
That’s about a 5.5-month supply at the current sales rate.
“New home sales inched down in September, but the ongoing trend remains positive as builders increase their production,” says Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in a statement.
“Sales volume is expected to improve slightly in the coming months as more newly-built inventory arrives,” adds Jing Fu, director of forecasting and analysis for NAHB.
