by Calculated Risk on 3/24/2006 10:00:00 AM

According to the Census Bureau report, New Home Sales in February were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.08 million. January's sales were revised down slightly to 1.207 million.


Click on Graph for larger image.

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



The Not Seasonally Adjusted monthly rate was 92,000 New Homes sold, slightly higher than the revised 91,000 in January.

On a year over year basis, February 2006 sales were 15.5% lower than February 2005.



The median and average sales prices are steady.

The median sales price of new houses sold in February 2006 was $230,400; the average sales price was $296,700.



The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of February was 548,000. This represents a supply of 6.3 months at the current sales rate.

The 548,000 units of inventory is another all time record for new houses for sale. On a months of supply basis, inventory is significantly above the level of recent years.

This report is very weak, except for the median and average prices. One month does not make a trend, but New Home Sales have fallen in six of the last seven months.