The original August report put new home sales for the month at 504,000, a spike of 18% month-over-month. The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development did not offer an explanation for the downward revision, but monthly estimates can be volatile and are often revised. The July sales total was further revised, from 427,000 down to 404,000, making the two-month rise equal to 63,000, or about 15.6%, still a big jump. The majority of the increase came in August.
New home sales in September are the highest since July of 2008 and are up 17% year-over-year for the month. 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 September slipped from $275,000 in August to $259,000, and the average sales price dropped from $347,900 to $313,200. At the end of September, the number of new homes for sale rose slightly from an August total of 203,000 to 207,000, a supply of 5.3 months at the current sales rate.
In September, 64% 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 slipped two points to 31%.
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