Sales of new single-family houses increased 5.8% in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 640,000, the U.S Census Bureau announced. Compared with November 2021, however, new home sales were down 15.3%.
“Declining mortgage rates during the second half of November, combined with builder sales incentives, lifted the pace of new home sales for the month,” stated Jerry Konter, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). “However, due to higher construction costs and ongoing supply-chain issues, the median price of a newly-built single-family home in November was $471,200, 9.5% higher than a year ago.”
Regionally, on a year-to-date basis, new home sales fell in every region, dropping 3.6% in the Northeast, 22.3% in the Midwest, 13.1% in the South and 19.3% in the West.
Inventory of new homes for sale at the end of November was 461,000, an 8.6-month supply at the current sales pace.
