New Home Sales Tick Upward in September
Sales of new single-family homes rose 3.1 percent in September to a pace of 593,000 homes, from a downward revised 575,000 pace in August (see chart). Though new home sales have been trending higher since hitting a post-recession low of 270,000 in February 2011, the overall level of activity remains tepid by historical standards.
Over the past four decades, new homes sales typically ranged between 600,000 to 800,000 during expansions. During the housing boom of 1996 to 2005, new home sales rose to a peak of almost 1.4 million, as the chart shows. The 593,000 pace for September is just approaching that lower end of the typical range, more than seven years into the current expansion.
The pace of new home building has generally paralleled the pace of sales, resulting in a relatively tight supply. The number of new homes for sale in September fell 0.4 percent to 235,000, resulting in 4.8 months’ worth of supply for September. Since 1970, the months’ supply for new homes in the U.S. has typically ranged between 5 and 8 months during economic expansions. During recessions, the months’ supply can spike as high as 11 or 12 months. Conversely, during the housing boom, months’ supply often fell below 4.
In general, low interest rates combined with jobs and income growth should be supportive of the housing market. However, caution among buyers, lenders, and builders may be restraining a more rapid recovery.
Click here to sign up for the Daily Economy weekly digest!
Robert Hughes joined AIER in 2013 following more than 25 years in economic and financial markets research on Wall Street. Bob was formerly the head of Global Equity Strategy for Brown Brothers Harriman, where he developed equity investment strategy combining top-down macro analysis with bottom-up fundamentals. Prior to BBH, Bob was a Senior Equity Strategist for State Street Global Markets, Senior Economic Strategist with Prudential Equity Group and Senior Economist and Financial Markets Analyst for Citicorp Investment Services. Bob has a MA in economics from Fordham University and a BS in business from Lehigh University.Robert Hughes
