The fourth straight monthly decline of new single-family home sales in August has resulted in a six-month low. Sales were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 295,000, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Commerce Department.
The latest figure is 2.3 percent below the revised July rate of 302,000 but is 6.1 percent above the August 2010 estimate of 278,000. The median sales price for new houses sold in August 2011 was $209,100; the average sales price was $246,000. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 162,000. This represents a supply of 6.6 months at the current sales rate.
"The number of foreclosed homes on the market continues to pose major challenges, not just to builders who have to compete against that low-priced product, but also to buyers who need to sell an existing home before trading up to a new one," said Bob Nielsen, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Reno, Nev. "As the price data show, entry-level homes are generally driving the new-home market right now, and that's because first-time buyers don't have another home they have to sell."
"As builders in our recent surveys have been telling us, the lull in new-home sales continued even as mortgage rates held at extremely favorable levels in August. This is partly because continuing tight credit conditions are dissuading even well-qualified buyers, who are having trouble obtaining the good rates that are out there," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "However, on a positive note, today's numbers confirm that builders are wisely refraining from adding to the inventory of unsold new homes, which is currently at a 49-year low."
