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 and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly released the new residential sales report for September 2018. The census forecast was expecting a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 625,000, but it came in way below.
While the report is very volatile, it adds to the overall picture of a housing market struggling in an otherwise robust and strong economy.
New Home Sales
Sales of new single‐family houses in September 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 553,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 5.5% (±12.1%)* below the revised August rate of 585,000 and is 13.2% (±13.6%)* below the September 2017 estimate of 637,000.
Sales Price
The median sales price of new houses sold in September 2018 was $320,000. The average sales price was $377,200.
For Sale Inventory and Months’ Supply
The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of September was 327,000. This represents a supply of 7.1 months at the current sales rate.
