U.S. new home sales in September fell 3.6% from August, and were down 7.8% year-over-year. This is the first decline in monthly new home sales after five consecutive monthly gains.
Median sales prices have fallen 9.1% in the past year to $204,800. Best news in the release: The supply of homes on the market fell to 251,000 in September, which is the lowest level since November 1982.
Commerce:
Sales of new one-family houses in September 2009 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 402,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 3.6 percent (±10.2%)* below the revised August rate of 417,000 and is 7.8 percent (±12.0%)* below the September 2008 estimate of 436,000.
Note that this data series is particularly noisy, and often mean reverts every 2 months. On top of that, neither the monthly nor the annual changes are statistically meaningful, as they are both less thanthe margin of error.
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via Barron’s Econoday
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Previously:
New Home Sales Data: Don’t rely On It Either (November 30th, 2005)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2005/11/new-home-sales-data-dont-rely-on-it-either/
Source:
NEW RESIDENTIAL SALES IN SEPTEMBER 2009
http://www.census.gov/const/newressales_200909.pdf
http://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf
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