New home sales in March were at an annual rate of 694,000, an increase of 4.0% compared with a revised rate of 667,000 in February rate and an increase of 8.8% compared with about 638,000 in March 2017, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The median sales price of a new, single-family home sold in March was $337,200. The average sales price was $369,900.
As of the end of March, there were about 301,000 new homes available for sale in the U.S., on a seasonally-adjusted basis. That’s about a 5.2-month supply at the current sales rate.
“The March new home sales report is consistent with our solid builder confidence readings over the past several months,” says Randy Noel, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in a statement. “As consumer confidence grows and more prospective buyers enter the housing market, the sales numbers should continue to make gains.”
Regionally, new home sales increased 28.3% in the West and 0.8% in the South. Sales decreased 2.4% in the Midwest and 54.8% in the Northeast.
“We saw sales move forward in the West and the South regions, which is in line with recent evidence of faster growth in population, employment and single-family construction in these areas,” says Michael Neal, senior economist for NAHB. “But with nationwide economic growth and favorable demographics, we can expect continued strengthening of the housing market across the country.”
