New residential property sales worsened last month, and a nearly one-third decline in the West was behind the weak results.
During the first month of this year, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales came in at a disappointing 494,000.
Sales of new residential properties tumbled from the final month of last year, when the seasonally adjusted rate was 544,000.
The data was jointly released Wednesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Sales also retreated from January 2015, when the rate was 521,000.
The National Association of Home Builder’s chief economist, David Crowe, commented on the report.
“Consumers are exhibiting caution in the face of some uncertain market conditions,” Crowe stated in a news release. “The average of the December-January reports shows that housing is moving forward at a modest pace, buoyed by relatively low interest rates and ongoing job creation.”
Genworth Mortgage Insurance
Insurance Chief Economist Tian Liu also weighed in on the report.
“Unfortunately, the large increase in new home sales reported in December was not sustained,” Liu said in a written statement. “We still expect to see new home sales to break out of the 490 – 520 thousand unit range, supported by a stronger labor market and a shortage of newer vintage homes.”
In the West, the annual sales pace was 110,000, plunging 32 percent from December 2015 — the largest decline of any region.
New home sales fell 6 percent in the Midwest to a seasonally adjusted rate of 64,000 in January.
But in the South, the rate accelerated 2 percent from December to 290,000, while a 3 percent gain in the Northeast left the rate there at 30,000.
Without any seasonal adjustments, there were 37,000 new U.S. homes sold in January.
As of Jan. 31, 2016, there were a seasonally adjusted 238,000 homes for sale. The inventory slightly expanded from 233,000 a month earlier and was up from 208,000 a year earlier.
The report indicated that the seasonally adjusted supply of new houses for sale lengthened to 5.8 months from 5.1 months in December.
The median sales price of a new home was $278,800 as of the latest month, while the average price was $365,700.
