A real estate sign advertising a new home for sale is pictured in Vienna, Virginia, outside of Washington, October 20, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)
The U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday new home sales skyrocketed 18.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000 in September, the largest gain in 28 years. It’s 17.0% (±22.4%)* higher than the September 2016 estimate of 570,000.
Worth noting, new home sales in the South for the month of September surged 26% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 405,000. Sales in the three other regions also rose, led by a 33% gain in the Northeast to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 48,000 and an 11% gain in the Midwest to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 73,000. Sales in the West rose 2.9% to 141,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold in September 2017 was $319,700, while the average sales price was $385,200.
The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of September was 279,000, representing a supply of 5.0 months at the current sales rate.
