|
New Home
Sales
(Seasonally adjusted annual rate)
|
|
|
|
 |
| MOST RECENT STATISTIC: |
276,000 |
|
|
| GRADE: |
F |
| PERIOD COVERED: |
July 2010 |
| Date Released: |
08/25/10 |
|
|
|
| Next Released: |
09/24/10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
07/10 |
06/10 |
05/10 |
07/09 |
07/08 |
|
| United States |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sales (000) |
276 |
315 |
281 |
408 |
477 |
| % Change |
- |
(12.4%) |
(1.8%) |
(32.4%) |
(42.1%) |
| South Region |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sales (000) |
157 |
172 |
153 |
214 |
257 |
| % Change |
- |
(8.7%) |
2.6% |
(26.6%) |
(38.9%) |
| West Region |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sales (000) |
44 |
59 |
64 |
97 |
116 |
| % Change |
- |
(25.4%) |
(31.3%) |
(54.6%) |
(62.1%) |
| Midwest Region |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sales (000) |
44 |
48 |
37 |
56 |
65 |
| % Change |
- |
(8.3%) |
18.9% |
(21.4%) |
(32.3%) |
| Northeast Region |
|
|
|
|
|
| Sales (000) |
31 |
36 |
27 |
41 |
39 |
| % Change |
- |
(13.9%) |
14.8% |
(24.4%) |
(20.5%) |
|
| Source:
U.S.
Census Bureau |
(Percentage Change from
Previous Year - Not Seasonally Adjusted)
| |
Current
Month |
Year-to-Date |
|
|
| United States |
(34.2%) |
(7.6%) |
|
| South Region |
(25.0%) |
(12.0%) |
|
| West Region |
(55.6%) |
(13.2%) |
|
| Midwest
Region |
(20.0%) |
0.0% |
|
| Northeast Region |
(25.0%) |
17.6% |
|
|
|
Analysis for the Housing Market
By:Ken Lee
New home sales dropped to a new all-time low despite record-low mortgage rates in July. New home sales fell 12.4% from June levels to a seasonally-adjusted annual pace of 276,000 units. New home sales have posted declines in two out of the past three months following the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit in April. Sales for the previous three months were also revised downward by 9,000 units. In the last three months, the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of new home sales recorded their three lowest sales figures on record. New home sales are down 32.4% from the 408,000 units in July 2009 and are 42.1% lower than the July 2008 figure of 477,000.
All four regions across the country posted declines from both the previous month and the same year-ago period in July. The West region suffered the steepest drops with new home sales activity plunging 54.6% from the same year-ago period while falling 25.4% from the previous month. The Northeast saw new home sales drop 13.9% from June levels while dropping 24.4% from July of last year. New home sales in the South region fell 8.7% from the previous month and were down 26.6% from this time last year. The Midwest experienced a 8.3% drop from last month while declining 21.4% from July of last year.
*It should also be noted that new home sales data is subjected to large sampling and other statistical errors.
**New homes data in the April release included revisions for seasonally-adjusted new home sales dating back since January 2008.
Definitions and Importance for the Housing Market
By:Ken Lee
The U.S. Census Bureau provides data on new home sales based on a stratified random sample of gathering building activity information from 820 building permit-issuing areas and 70 land areas not covered by permits. A sale is defined as a deposit taken or sales agreement signed and can occur before the issuance of a permit. The Census conducts the Housing Sales Survey by telephone and/or personal interview of about 10,000 builders/owners of approximately 15,000 selected building projects. The resulting average sample size is about 7,500 cases, of which 1,250 are new cases and the remainder are cases carried over from the previous month.
New Homes Sales includes some units whose permits were multifamily. The sample excludes owner-built houses, contractor built houses, units built to be rented, and manufactured housing. Multifamily units are included if the units are side-by-side, have separately metered utilities, include a firewall, and were sold to a buyer.
Since the 1960s the Census Bureau has boosted new home sales data by 3.3% to take into account construction in areas where building permits are required without a building permit being issued. This type of construction would not normally be reported in the Census survey. The housing industry and trade groups believe that such unauthorized construction has virtually ceased, so the 3.3% boost was eliminated. This was not phased out over time, it was dropped completely in the revised estimates as of January 1999.
Historic data prices back to January 2004 were revised by the U.S. Census Bureau.
For more information on new home sales, go to:
http://www.nahb.com/
http://www.census.gov/const/www/newressalesindex.html
|
