Sales of new single-family houses in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 552,000, an increase of 5.7% compared with the revised July rate of 522,000 and an increase of 21.6% compared with the August 2014 rate of 454,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The median sales price of a new home sold in August was $292,700; the average sales price was $353,400.
As of the end of August, there were about 216,000 new homes for sale in the U.S. – about a 4.7-month supply at the current sales rate.
Regionally, new home sales increased 24% month over month in the Northeast, 7.4% in the South and 5.4% in the West. Meanwhile, the Midwest saw new home sales decrease by 9.1%.
Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD reported that housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about 1.13 million, a decrease of 3.0% compared with the revised July estimate of 1.16 million but an increase of 16.6% compared with the August 2014 rate of 966,000.
Building permits, however, reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.17 million, an increase of 3.5% compared with the revised July rate of 1.13 million and an increase of 12.5% compared with the August 2014 estimate of 1.04 million.