New Home Sales Soar to Decade-Plus High

Feb 26, 2020

Photo credit: Getty Images/AlessandroPhoto

Sales of new single-family houses during January 2020 were at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 764,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). This represents the highest level of sales since July 2007.

January’s sales level was 7.9 percent above the revised December rate of 708,000, and 18.6 percent above the January 2019 estimate of 644,000. On a regional basis, new home sales soared by 30.3 percent in the Midwest to their highest level since October 2007 and rose by 23.5 percent in the West to their highest level since July 2006. The Northeast saw a 4.8 percent increase in home sales, but sales fell by 4.4 percent in the South.

The median sales price of new houses sold in January was $348,200 and the average sales price was $402,300. The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 324,000, which represents a supply of 5.1 months at the current sales rate.

Recent data from the Census Bureau and HUD also found that single-family housing starts in January were at a rate of 1,010,000, 5.9 percent below the revised December figure of 1,073,000.

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Phil Hall

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Feb 26, 2020

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