New home sales had their fourth consecutive month of increases in March, jumping 9.6% from February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Compared with March 2022, new home sales were down 3.4%.
“A lack of resale inventory combined with many builders offering price incentives helped to push new home sales higher in March,” stated Alicia Huey, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “However, sales are down 3.4% compared to a year ago because of the shortage of electrical transformer equipment and building material price volatility.”
The median sales price of new homes in March was 449,800, a 3.2% increase compared with March 2022.
Regionally, month-over-month, new home sales surged 170.8% in the Northeast, 29.8% in the West and 6.0% in the Midwest. New home sales slid 5.4% in the South.
The supply of new houses for sale at the end of March was 432,000, a 7.6 month supply at the current sales rate.
The full report can be found here.
