by Calculated Risk on 8/23/2005 08:10:00 PM

According to a Census Bureau report, New Home Sales in July were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.41 million vs. market expectations of 1.35 million. June sales were revised down to 1.324 million from 1.374 million.


Click on Graph for larger image.

NOTE: The graph starts at 700 thousand units per month to better show monthly variation.

Sales of new one-family houses in July 2005 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,410,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.



The Not Seasonally Adjusted monthly rate was 120,000 New Homes sold, up from a revised 117,000 in June.

The median sales price of new houses sold in July 2005 was $203,800; the average sales price was $275,000.



The average sales price rebounded slightly and the median price is the lowest since 2003.

The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of July was 460,000. This represents a supply of 4.0 months at the current sales rate.



The seasonally adjusted supply of New Homes was 4.0 months, about normal for the last few years.

July was a record for sales, but recently the trend has been for downward revisions and July will probably be revised down. Even though inventories are at a record high, with the strong sales, the months of inventory is normal for the last few years.

Median prices continue to fall and are now at 2003 levels.