Although the pace of new home sales turned lower last month, the supply of homes available for sale was the greatest in nearly eight years.
There were 54,000 new U.S. single-family residences that were sold during April, fewer than an upwardly revised 61,000 the preceding month.
But despite the month-over-month decline, activity held up compared to the same month last year, when a downwardly revised 55,000 units sold.
The statistics were jointly reported Tuesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
During the first-four months of 2017, new home sales totaled
210,000.
When the data are adjusted for seasonal factors, the annual rate of new home sales was 569,000 last month, tumbling from an upwardly revised 642,000 in March. But a modest gain was made versus a downwardly revised 566,000 in April 2016.
With a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 126,000, new home sales in the West sank from March by 26 percent — the most of any region. The Midwest fell 13 percent to 73,000, while the Northeast retreated 8 percent to 37,000, and the South was off 4 percent to 333,000.
The report indicated that there were a seasonally adjusted 268,000 new homes for sale as of April 30, 2017, the most since July 2009.
At the current rate of sales, it would take 5.7 months to clear out the existing inventory. That was the longest since September 2015, when there was a 5.8-month supply.
Last month’s average new home sales price was $368,300, while the median price was $309,200.
