Last month, the annual rate of new home sales dropped to the lowest level since last year. Activity in the Northeast led the decline.
Sales of new single-family properties totaled 49,000 during July. The metric is preliminary and could be subsequently revised.
The latest activity brought to
378,000 the number of new U.S. residential properties that were sold between Jan. 1, 2017, and July 31.
The data was jointly reported Wednesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, last month’s annual rate of new home sales was 571,000 — the slowest rate since December 2016’s upwardly revised 548,000. The rate retreated from an upwardly revised 630,000 in June. A decline was also recorded from a downwardly revised 627,000 in July 2016.
National Association of Home Builders Chairman Granger MacDonald weighed in on the data.
“Some pull back in new home sales this month is not surprising after strong May and June readings,” Granger said in a written statement. “Builders must continue to manage construction costs to ensure houses remain affordable.”
The biggest month-over-month decline was in the Northeast: 24 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 32,000 in July 2017. Sales in the West tumbled 21 percent to 144,000, while the South saw a 4 percent drop to a rate of 326,000.
Only the Midwest experienced a month-over-month gain — 6 percent to 69,000.
Last month finished with a seasonally adjusted 276,000 new U.S. homes for sale.
That worked out to a 5.8-month supply.
The median sales price of new homes sold was $313,700, while the average price was $371,200.
