(May 28, 2009 Release)
Highlights
• New home sales rose 0.3 percent in April to an annualized 352,000 units compared to 351,000 annualized units posted in March.
• The slight increase in sales was less than anticipated, but welcome news nevertheless. New home sales were mixed by region. The sales in the South rose 1.9 percent, while sales in the Midwest and Northeast recorded no change from a month earlier. The West posted a 3.8 percent drop in sales.
• The months supply fell to 10.1 in April from 10.6 in March, but remains at very excessive levels.
• The median new home sales price was down almost almost 15 percent compared to a year ago.
| New Home Sales, Mil., SAAR | ||||
| Apr 09 | Mar 09 | 3 mo Avg. | 1 yr ago | |
| United States | 0.352 | 0.351 | 0.355 | 0.533 |
| % change | 0.3 | -3.0 | -34.0 | |
| Northeast | 0.019 | 0.019 | 0.022 | 0.040 |
| % change | 0.0 | -29.6 | -52.5 | |
| Midwest | 0.045 | 0.045 | 0.047 | 0.083 |
| % change | 0.0 | -10.0 | -45.8 | |
| South | 0.212 | 0.208 | 0.211 | 0.284 |
| % change | 1.9 | -1.9 | -25.3 | |
| West | 0.076 | 0.079 | 0.076 | 0.126 |
| % change | -3.8 | 8.2 | -39.7 | |
| Months’ Supply | 10.1 | 10.6 | 10.5 | 10.4 |
| New Median Home Price, $ | 199,969 | 205,030 | 202,300 | 235,000 |
| % change | -2.5 | 1.6 | -14.9 | |
Source: Census Bureau
Analysis
The slight rise in new home sales was welcome news for the nation’s housing sector but we are reminded that a pace of 352,000 is close to its cyclical low of 329,000 posted in January. All three housing measures-housing starts, existing home sales and new home sales are bouncing slightly upward from their January cyclical lows, suggesting that the housing markets may be nearing a bottom and stabilizing.
However, the April pace of new home sales remains very weak and the supply of new homes remains very excessive. It will take several more months of positive news in the major housing measures before we can claim that a housing recovery is in sight.
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