New Residential Sales, Housing Market Defy COVID and Forecasts
Washington, D.C. (PPD) — The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) jointly reported the new residential sales statistics for July 2020. New home sales of single-family houses soared 13.9% (±20.0%) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 901,000 in July, far surpassing the consensus forecast.
Forecasts ranged from a low of 735,000 to a high of 800,000. The consensus forecast was 774,000.
That’s an increase of 13.9% (±20.0%) from the upwardly revised rate of 791,000 in June. Last month was initially reported at 776,000, the highest level for new home sales since before the Great Recession, or July 2007. Now, new home sales are 36.3% (±27.4%) above the estimate of 661,000 for July 2019.
The median sales price of new houses sold in July 2020 was $330,600. The average sales price was $391,300.
The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 299,000. This represents a supply of 4.0 months at the current sales rate.
As People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) previously reported, economic indicators widely show the U.S. housing market is “booming”, surpassing pre-pandemic levels and expectations. Experts now foresee housing leading the economic recovery and have raised growth forecasts for the sector.
