New Home Sales Match Forecast for August, Downward Revisions Offset

New homes sales gin August 2018 gained at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000, matching the consensus forecast. This is 3.5% (±13.7%) above the revised July rate of 608,000 and is 12.7% (±20.7%) higher than the August 2017 estimate of 558,000.

However, the big downward revision to July, which was initially reported to be 629,000, essentially cancelled out most of the gains for the months of August. It’s a reminder just how volatile the new home sales report can be on a monthly basis.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) jointly conduct and release the report on new residential sales statistics.

The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2018 was $320,200. The average sales price was $388,400. The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 318,000. This represents a supply of 6.1 months at the current sales rate.

By region, the West led the way with a 9.1% monthly gain and a 19.1% gain on an annual basis. The Midwest followed with a gain of 2.7% monthly and an annual gain of 13.2%.

The South which is by far the largest region, down 1.7 percent in the month but up 11.5% year-on-year. The Northeast trails as usual even though new home sales soared 48% this month. It is widely exaggerated given the base and regional sales for the year are down 2.9%.