Sept. New Home Sales Rise 3.1% to 593,000 Annual Rate

WASHINGTON - The pace of new single-family home sales rebounded to a lower-than-expected 593,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in September following downward revisions to the previous three months, data released by the Commerce Department Wednesday showed.

The sales pace was expected to post a 603,000 annual rate, a decline from the previously reported 609,000 rate in August, based on an MNI survey of economists.

New home sales in August was revised down sharply to a 575,000 rate from the previously reported 609,000 rate, while July sales were revised down to a 629,000 rate from the 659,000 rate previously reported, but it remains the recent peak. June sales were revised down to 558,000 from the previously reported 579,000 pace.

Including the September headline data and the revisions, the third quarter average stands at 599,000, ahead of the 565,000 average in the second quarter and the 564,000 average for all of 2016. Overall, the data suggest new home sales remain on an upward trend and should continue to support home building.

The increase in the September sales pace was due to rebounds in regions that lost ground in August. The largest increase was a 33.3% rebound in the Northeast, but there were also gains in the larger South and Midwest regions that gained back some of the large declines seen in those regions in August. The West region posted a 4.5% decline in September after a 7.7% rise in August.

On an unadjusted basis, September sales were down 2.1% from August, but were up 31.4% from a year ago.

The supply of new homes for sale fell by 0.4% to 235,000 in September. When combined with the increase in sales, the months supply fell to a lean 4.8 months from 4.9 months in August. The month supply was 5.8 months in September 2015, an indication that home building is still lagging behind sales.

The median sales price of new homes rose by 6.7% to $313,500 in September,. The median price was up 1.9% from September 2015.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.

Market News International is a real-time global news service for fixed-income and foreign exchange market professionals. See www.marketnews.com.
MORE FROM BOND BUYER