NAHB says new sales incentives offered by builders coupled with a mortgage-rate drop sparked a 5.8% increase in Nov. new-home sales.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 23 – November sales of newly built, single-family homes increased 5.8% to a 640,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.
However, on a year-to-date basis, new home sales were down 15.2%.
“Declining mortgage rates during the second half of November combined with builder sales incentives lifted the pace of new home sales for the month,” says Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “However, due to higher construction costs and ongoing supply-chain issues, the median price of a newly-built single-family home in November was $471,200, 9.5% higher than a year ago.”
“Higher construction costs has made building entry-level homes particularly difficult, and this is where we see the greatest amount of pricing out for the housing market,” adds NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “In November 2021, 13% of new home sales were priced below $300,000. That share has now fallen to 7%.”
A new-home sale occurs when a sales contract is signed or a deposit accepted. The home can be in any stage of construction: not yet started, under construction or completed. The November reading of 640,000 units is the number of homes that would sell if this pace continued for the next 12 months after adjusting for seasonal effects.
New single-family home inventory remained elevated at an 8.6-months’ supply (in varying stages of construction). The count of homes available for sale, 461,000, is up 18.2% over last year.
A year ago, there were 32,000 completed, ready-to-occupy homes available for sale. By November 2022, that number increased to 64,000, reflecting flagging demand and more standing inventory due to lower sales.
Regionally, new home sales fell in all four regions on a year-to-date basis, down 3.6% in the Northeast, 22.3% in the Midwest, 13.1% in the South and 19.3% in the West.
© 2023 Florida Realtors®
©Florida Realtors®
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