New Home Sales in March Continue Upward Trend
The new Heritage Sands development on Cape Cod in Massachusetts is a Best in American Living award winner. Photo by Alison Caron.
Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose for the third straight month, increasing 5.8% in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 621,000 units, according to newly released data from HUD and the Census Bureau.
“This month’s increase in new home sales is aligned with solid builder confidence and shows that the spring home buying season is off to a strong start,” said NAHB Chairman Granger MacDonald. “However, builders are concerned that ongoing increases in building material costs will hurt housing affordability, especially given today’s proposal by the Department of Commerce to impose a hefty tariff on Canadian lumber.”
“The March sales numbers are the second highest on record since the Great Recession, which is especially encouraging considering the poor weather conditions throughout many parts of the country,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. “With tight existing home inventory, rising household formations and continued job creation, we can expect further growth in new home sales moving forward.”
The inventory of new homes for sale was 268,000 in March, which is a 5.2-month supply at the current sales pace. The median sales price of new houses sold was $315,100.
Regionally, new home sales increased 25.8% in the Northeast, 16.7% in the West and 1.6% in the South. Sales fell 4.5% in the Midwest.
For additional analysis, read Dietz’s Eye on Housing blog post
