After Wednesday’s disappointing report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) on February sales of existing homes, Thursday’s report on new home sales should bring some joy back to Mudville. New home sales posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) for the month of 592,000, solidly above January’s SAAR of 558,000 and well above the consensus estimate of 565,000.
The February total is 6.1% higher than the January rate and 12.8% higher than the SAAR in February 2016. The median sales price of new houses sold in February was $296,200 and the average sales price was $390,400.
The adjusted estimate of homes for sale at the end of February was 266,000, a supply of 5.4 months at the current rate of sales.
On a percentage basis, 36% of new homes sold in February were priced between $200,000 and $299,000, up five points month over month and up seven points year over year. The percentage of homes sold priced between $300,000 and $399,000 fell by 11 points month over month and rose by three points year over year.
Of the 49,000 new homes sold in February, 17,000 were priced between $200,000 and $299,000 and 8,000 were priced between $300,000 and $399,000.
Sales of existing homes fell by 3.7%, according to the NAR’s report published Wednesday. The median sale price for existing homes rose 7.7% year over year to $228,400. Unsold inventory totaled 1.75 million homes for sale, a supply of just 3.8 months.
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