Industry News Markets
New-home sales rise 2.3%

May 23, Washington – Sales of newly built, single-family homes rose 2.3 per cent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000 units in April, according to the HUD and U.S. Census Bureau.

"Builders are reporting an active spring buying season as consumers become more confident about going forward with a new-home purchase along with steadily firming prices in local markets," said Rick Judson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Charlotte, N.C. "While the cost of constructing homes is rising due to tightened supplies of materials, lots and labor, to some extent, this may be creating greater urgency among potential buyers."

"Today's report is further evidence of the gradual, consistent improvement we have been seeing in housing market conditions over the past year," said Robert Denk, NAHB Senior Economist. "We're now about half-way back to what could be considered a full recovery, and we do expect to see continual, solid gains in both starts and sales of new homes going forward."

On a regional basis, new-home sales rose three per cent in the South and 10.8 per cent in the West, but fell 4.8 per cent in the Midwest and 16.7 per cent in the Northeast in April.

The inventory of new homes for sale edged up to a still-thin 156,000 units in April. This is a 4.1-month supply at the current sales pace.

May 24, 2013  By NAHB