Sales of newly built, single-family homes in March rose 8.8% to a 693,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly revised reading in February, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. The pace of new home sales in March is up 8.3% from a year earlier.
"Although consumer demand has been somewhat dampened due to higher interest rates, builders continue to supply new homes to the market to lift inventory to make up for the low resale supply," said Carl Harris, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a custom home builder from Wichita, Kan. "Rates moving above 7% however, will move some home buyers to the sidelines as the spring progresses."
"Shelter inflation remains the largest, lingering obstacle to lower inflation," said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz. "More housing supply will ultimately tame shelter inflation growth and lower interest rates. This will improve the cost of financing for land developers and home builders and enable more attainable housing supply."
New single-family home inventory in March remained elevated at a level of 477,000, up 2.6% from February. This represents an 8.3 months’ supply at the current building pace, which has been supported by the ongoing shortage of resale homes. Inventory of newly-built single-family homes is up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis.
The median new home sale price in March was $430,700, up nearly 6% from February, and down 1.9% compared to a year ago.
Regionally, on a year-to-date basis, new home sales are up 15.1% in the Northeast, 17.8% in the Midwest and 28.1% in the West. New home sales are down 6.6% in the South.
