- New homes sales rose 4.9 percent in February, to 636,000 units (SAAR) from upward revised January numbers, according to the Census Bureau. They were 0.6 percent higher than a year ago — the first annual gain since August 2018.
- The median price of new homes sold in February was $315,300 (non-seasonally adjusted), up 3.8 percent from January but down 3.6 percent from a year earlier.
- Inventory dropped 0.6 percent from revised January figures to 340,000, and rose 13.3 percent from a year earlier.
The wounds from January’s disappointing numbers may be still raw, but today's surprisingly upbeat figures offer at least a partial reprieve for the new home sales market and paint a promising picture for the coming months. The Northeast and Midwest were leaders for February. January's figures were released just two weeks ago as the Census Bureau played catch-up from the partial government shutdown-and they were a significant step back after two solid months at the end of last year. In fact, this trend of two steps forward, one step back, has been a consistent occurrence for much of the last twelve months. Declining mortgage rates, slowing home-value growth and stronger wage gains all helped February's figures put their best foot forward, improving would-be buyers' affordability and empowering them to enter the market. And while concerns about an economic slowdown have begun to appear, the builder pipeline is a long one that will take months to respond to these changes. With mortgage rates primed to stay low and more inventory coming on the market, expect rosy buying conditions — although possibly not such rosy numbers as these, given mounting economic uncertainty — to remain as we enter the busy shopping season.
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via February New Home Sales: No More Chill in the Air
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