Despite a month-over-month decline in new home sales, annual activity ascended, and the supply of homes for sale expanded.
During the final month of last year, there were a preliminary 38,000 new U.S. single-family residence sales that closed.
Even though sales slowed from an upwardly revised 42,000 a month earlier, activity picked up from 38,000 a year earlier.
Historical data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which jointly reported the latest data Thursday, indicate that new home sales amounted
563,000 during all of last year, increasing from 501,000 in 2015.
Applying seasonal factors, the annual rate of new home sales came to 536,000 last month, falling from an upwardly revised 598,000 in November and a downwardly revised 538,000 in December 2015.
In the Northeast, new home sales came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 46,000 in December 2016, soaring from the prior month by 48 percent — the largest month-over-month increase of any region.
It was also the only increase from November for any region.
Sales slipped a percent in the West to a seasonally adjusted 156,000, while they fell 13 percent in the South to a 285,000 rate, and plummeted 41 percent in the Midwest to a rate of 49,000 rate.
Last year concluded with a 5.8-month supply of U.S. homes available for sale — the most since September 2015. The supply loosened from 5.0 months in November and 5.2 months in December 2015.
Last month’s median sales price was $322,500, while the average price was $384,000.
The full-year 2016 median sales price worked out to $313,200, rising from $296,400 the previous year. The average sales price climbed to $372,000 from $360,600 in 2015.
