WASHINGTON – The pace of new single-family home sales surged to a much stronger-than-expected 621,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in March, following mixed revisions to the January and February sales pace, data released by the Commerce Department Tuesday showed.
The sales pace was expected to slow modestly to 587,000, based on an MNI survey of economists. Instead, they are at their highest point since July 2016.
Sales rebounded by 25.8% in the Northeast after a 24.4% decline in February. In addition, the large South region saw sales rise 1.6% and the West region posted a convincing 16.7% increase, its fifth increase in the last six months. These were partially offset by a 4.5% decline in the Midwest.
New home sales in February were revised down slightly to a 587,000 rate from the 592,000 rate previously reported, while January sales were revised up to a 585,000 rate from the 558,000 pace previously reported. December sales were revised up to 551,000 from the previously reported 530,000 pace.
Adding the March pace announced Tuesday to the revisions, first quarter sales averaged 598,000 at an annual rate, up sharply from 564,000 in the fourth quarter.
The supply of new homes for sale rose by 1.1% to 268,000 in March, the highest level since July 2009. Given recent strength in housing starts, the supply is likely to rise further in the coming months. Based on the movements in sales and supply in March, the months supply slipped to 5.2 months from 5.4 months in February and 5.5 months a year ago.
The median sales price of new homes rose by 7.5% to $315,100 in March and was up 1.2% from March 2016. The average sales price rose by 3.9% to $388,200 and was up 5.6% from a year ago. Both the median and average sales prices were the highest so far this year.
