Sales of single-family homes increased by 11.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000 compared to the prior month, the Commerce Department said Monday. Though, year-over-year, new-home sales were 21.3% lower than the level in June 2008.
The median price for a new home was $206,200 in June, down 12.0% from $234,300 in June 2008. On a monthly basis, the price fell from May 2009's $219,000.
The best best is it is beginning to look as though new home sales have put in a bottom:
Calculated Risk is arguing we'll have a double bottom in housing -- one in sales and one in prices. I think that makes a tremendous amount of sense.
2 comments:
That new sales are up -- and past news that permits and starts are up -- tells me that builders are intent on undercutting existing sales with the help of a raft of forclosures.
Existing owners have still not come to terms with that reality, but eventually, it will hit existing prices hard as owners become desperate to sell and see how well dropping prices works.
The bottom is beginning, but we've got a long way to go to get there. Consider this an inflection point.
What is the correlation between home sales "bottoming" and interest rates? I suspect home sales are stable/increasing mainly as a function of low interest rates. What happens when rates increase, perhaps considerably?
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