New House Sales Skyrocket in September

Oct 25, 2017

Three new data reports on the state of the national housing environment offers a startling consideration of how far housing has moved in the last decade

Sales of new single-family houses in September took a giant leap skyward, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last month’s sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000, a remarkable 18.9 percent spike above the revised August rate of 561,000 and an equally impressive 17 rise above the September 2016 estimate of 570,000.

The median sales price of new houses sold in September was $319,700, while the average sales price was $385,200. The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of September was 279,000, which represents a supply of five months at the current sales rate.

Brent Nyitray, Director of capital markets at iServe Residential Lending, greeted the news with a dose of skepticism. Writing in his daily e-newsletter, Nyitray commented, “FWIW, the margin of error on these estimates out of Census is gargantuan, and building permits / housing starts have not really confirmed this data. Regardless, it is great news, if it holds up.”

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Phil Hall

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Oct 25, 2017

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