Americans purchased far more new homes than expected in March, pushing sales up to the fastest rate since the Federal Reserve started hiking rates a year ago.
Sales of new single-family homes last month rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683,000. That is 9.6 percent higher than the revised February level of 623,000
Economists had forecast a rate of 630,000 after the preliminary report for the previous month of 640,000.
This is the fastest rate of sales since March of 2022, when sales were an an annual rate of 707,000.
The median sales price of new houses sold was $449,8000, up from 432,200 in February. The average sales price was $562,000, close to the all-time high of 568,7000 hit in December of last year.
While sales are below the extraordinary rates seen in the wake of the pandemic, they have now recovered back to prepandemic rates.
634,
Builder confidence rose again in April, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). This is the fourth consecutive month of improving confidence for builders.
New home sales are probably being boosted by a lack of inventory of previously owned homes on the market. Many homeowners who locked in low mortgage rates prior to the dramatic rise in rates last year are reluctant to sell their home because they would face a much steeper interest rate on their next home. That’s a drag on existing home sales volumes but it likely is keeping prices high and contributing to the sales of newly built homes.
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