A sharp month-over-month increase in new home sales in the Midwest region was out front of an improvement on a national basis.
The sale of new single-family houses that were sold during the entire month of November 2016
came to a preliminary 41,000 units.
New home sales slowed from the previous month, when the number was 45,000, and an upwardly revised 36,000 a year previous.
The Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly reported the figures Friday.
From Jan. 1, 2016, through Nov. 30, new home sales amounted to 522,000.
On a seasonally adjusted basis,
new home sales came in at an annual rate of 592,000 last month.
The rate increased from 563,000 in October and an upwardly revised 508,000 in November 2015.
November 2016’s seasonally adjusted annual rate soared 44 percent from the prior month in the Midwest, leaving the rate there at 92,000. An 8 percent jump in the West put last month’s rate at 154,000.
At 33,000, the rate in the Northeast was no different than in October.
In the South, sales slowed 3 percent to an annual rate of 313,000 last month.
As of Nov. 30, 2016,
there were 250,000 new U.S. homes for sale. That left a 5.1-month supply.
The median U.S. home price during the most-recent month was $305,400, while the average price was $359,900.
