New home sales were at an adjusted annual rate of of 841,000 in November, down 11.0% compared with October but up 20.8% compared with November 2019, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Regionally, and on a year-over-year basis, new home sales were up 28.2% in the Northeast, 24% in the Midwest, 16.9% in the South, and 20.5% in the West.
The median sales price of a new home sold in November was $335,300. The average sales price was $390,100.
Lack of supply played a major role in the month-over-month drop.
As of the end of the month, there were about 286,000 new homes available for sale in the U.S. – about a 4.1-month supply at the current sales rate.
“Though the market remains strong, the pace of sales pulled back in November as inventory remains low and affordability concerns persist as builders grapple with a shortage of lots, labor and building materials,” says Chuck Fowke, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in a statement.
“The home building industry saw a historic gap between the pace of new home sales and construction of for-sale single-family housing this fall,” adds Robert Dietz, chief economist for NAHB. “As a result, the pace of new home sales was expected to slow, to allow construction to catch up. This appears to have occurred in November as inventory of completed, ready to occupy new homes was down 43 percent compared to November 2019 at just 43,000 homes nationwide.”