Providing fresh evidence the U.S.'s housing sector is recovering, new-home sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 377,000 in November, the strongest pace in more than two years.
Sales rose 4.4 percent in November from October's rate of 361,000, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced today. The current rate stands 15.3 percent above the November 2011 estimate of 327,000 units.
Regionally, new-home sales numbers were mixed in November. Rebounding from declines the previous month, both the South and the Northeast showed improvement, with respective increases of 21.1 percent and 12.5 percent. New-home sales in the Midwest dropped by 12.5 percent, and the West posted a decline of 17.8 percent.
The median sales price of new houses sold in November was $246,200, while the average price was $299,700. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses available at the end of November was 149,000, representing a supply of 4.7 months at the current sales rate.
"New-home sales are gradually picking up momentum as the economy improves," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the NAHB and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "Prospective home buyers who have been sitting on the fence for years are moving back into the market due to continuing low mortgage interest rates, attractive pricing and the improving economy."
"This increase is consistent with NAHB's member surveys, which show increasing confidence in the market," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "We're projecting a total of about 365,000 new-home sales in 2012, an increase of almost 20 percent over the previous year. The year ahead will see a similar gain as more people who have been sitting on the sidelines decide that it is time to purchase a new home."
