New home sales declined 8.7% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 675,000, the U.S. Census Bureau announced. Compared with August 2022, new home sales were up 5.8%.
“Sales weakened in August with average mortgage rates above 7%,” stated Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. “While some builders were able to offset that effect via mortgage rate buydowns, rates moved higher this month, suggesting the pace of new home sales will weaken further for September.”
Regionally, new home sales fell 17.2% in the Midwest, 9.4% in the West and 7.5% in the South. New home sales rose 6.7% in the Northeast.
The median sales price of new houses sold in August was $430,300, and the average sales price was $514,000.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 436,000, a 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace.
