The August rate was the highest in more than six years and the month-over-month gain of 18% is the largest since January of 1992. Other recent data on housing is less robust, however. For example, construction starts were down sharply in August.
The August rate is 33% above the rate for August 2013. At the peak in 2005, new home sales posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of nearly 1.4 million.
The Census Bureau also reported that the median sales price for new homes sold in August rose from $269,800 in July to $275,000 and the average sales price rose from $339,100 to $347,900. At the end of August the number of new homes for sale slipped from a July total of 205,000 to 203,000, a supply of 4.8 months at the current sales rate.
In August, 58% of sales were for homes priced at less than $300,000, and the percentage of homes sold in the $200,000 to $299,999 price range remained flat at 33%.
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