NAHB report: New homes inventory continues shrinking in MarchMortgagePress.comU.S. Commerce Department, NAHB, new home construction, Joe Robson, David Crowe, statistics
The number of newly built, single-family homes on the market
declined for a 23rd consecutive month in March as builders focused
on winnowing down their inventories of unsold units, according to
new-home sales data reported by the U.S. Commerce Department.
Inventory shrank to 311,000 units, which is a 10.7-month supply at
the current sales pace.
"Builders are doing a great job of thinning the supply of unsold
homes and positioning themselves for a slow but steady housing
recovery," noted NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from
Tulsa, Okla. "Today's numbers are a welcome sign that the market is
stabilizing as some of the best home buying conditions in a
lifetime are drawing consumers off the fence and back into the
market."
The latest government data indicated that new-home sales in
March remained virtually on-pace with a relatively strong, upwardly
revised number from the previous month. Sales were reported at a
seasonally adjusted, annual rate of 356,000 units, which was off
just 0.6 percent from February.
"In line with NAHB's forecasts, we continue to see evidence that
the new-home sales market is bottoming out as historically low
mortgage rates, attractive home prices and incentives like the
newly created $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit spur more
interest among consumers," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe.
"That's particularly true in the West, where a 15 percent gain in
March can be attributed in part to California's implementation of
an up-to-$10,000 tax credit for buyers of newly built homes--which,
when combined with the federal first-time buyer credit, creates a
sizeable inducement to purchase."
Regionally, new-home sales activity was somewhat mixed in March,
with the two largest markets posting the best results. The West
registered a 15.1 percent gain, while the South held even with the
previous month's improved sales pace, the Midwest posted a 7.8
percent decline and the Northeast posted a 32 percent decline.
For more information, visit www.nahb.com.
