August 24, 2012 (Chris Moore)
New single-family home sales bounced back in July after June’s 3.5 percent decline while home prices went in the opposite direction, falling from both the previous month and the previous year according to the latest housing data released by the Census Bureau.
Sales of new single-family homes increased 3.6 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted rate of 372,000, up from a sales rate of 359,000 in June. On an unadjusted basis, new home sales remained unchanged from the previous month.
The rate of sales in July was 15.1 percent higher than the estimated sales rate of 297,000 units in July of 2011. Sales were also 20.7 percent higher than in July of last year on an unadjusted basis. Through the end of July, new home sales are 20.8 percent higher than at the same time last year.
The median sales price of the new homes sold in July was $224,200, which was down from a revised $229,100 in June. The average sales price for a new home in July was $263,200, down from a revised $266,900 in June.
Seventy-one percent of the new single-family homes sold in July were under $300,000, unchanged from June.
In July of last year, the median sales price of a new home was 2.5 percent higher at $229,900, while the average sales price was 2.3 percent higher at $270,300.
Two of the four national regions posted declines in seasonally adjusted monthly sales led by a 1.6 percent decline in the South, followed by a 0.9 percent decline in the West.
The Northeast reported a 76.5 increase in new home sales while the Midwest posted a 7.7 percent increase.
Compared to a year ago, all four of the regions showed improvement with the West posting the largest increase of 68.3 percent followed by the Northeast at 30.4 percent while the Midwest and the South reported increases of 21.7 and 9.1 percent, respectively.
Inventory of new single-family homes fell to a seasonally adjusted 142,000 homes available for sale, which translates into a 4.6 months supply of inventory, down from a revised 4.8 months supply the previous month.
Tags: Census Bureau, new home sales, single-family homes, median sales price, average sales price
Source:
Census Bureau