New home sales in the U.S. fell in February for the second straight month, dipping 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000 from the revised January rate of 318,000, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Still, the current rate is 11.4 percent above the February 2011 estimate of 281,000.
New home sales in the U.S. fell in February for the second straight month, dipping 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 313,000 from the revised January rate of 318,000, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Still, the current rate is 11.4 percent above the February 2011 estimate of 281,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in February was $233,700, while the average sales price was $267,700. The Associated Press said the latest median sales price is "the highest median price since June and could suggest builders are anticipating more sales in the months to come." The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of February was 150,000, representing a supply of 5.8 months at the current sales rate; the figure represents a record low.
"While many builders are seeing more traffic through their model homes as the spring buying season gets underway, tight lending conditions and appraisal issues continue to pose significant obstacles to prospective purchasers," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "These hurdles are definitely slowing the momentum of the housing and economic recovery."
Also in its latest report, the Department of Commerce ended up revising figures from December to show an annual rate of 336,000, the best sales pace in year.
"To some extent, we believe that exceptionally good weather conditions in December helped pull some home sales forward that would otherwise have occurred in January and February, which partially accounts for the declines we've seen at the beginning of this year," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "However, the February sales rate is still 11.4 percent above its year-ago level, and the quarterly average sales pace is at a two-year high. Meanwhile, the inventory of new homes for sale remains at an all-time record low, in part because of the lack of available financing for new-home production."
On a regional basis, new-home sales increased 14.3 percent in the Northeast and 8.0 percent in the West, but declined 2.4 percent in the Midwest and 7.2 percent in the South in February.