Updated: 24-Feb-10 10:25 ET
| January New Home Sales |
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| Updated: 24-Feb-10 10:25 ET |
Highlights
- New home sales continued to fall in January as sales slumped to 309,000 from 348,000 in December. The consensus expected sales to increase to 354,000.
- Median new home prices dipped from $215,600 to $203,500 in January as the percent of new homes sold for under $200,000 increased by 4 percentage points to 47%.
Key Factors
- Sales of new homes remain in a payback period following the original end date to the first-time homebuyer tax credit.
- Sales will probably remain low for at least one more month as the supply of new homebuyers takes time to restock.
Big Picture
- Since the deadline for the first-time homebuyer tax credit was extended until April 2010, we expect consumers to feel less rushed into buying a home. Given that interest rates are expected to remain near the zero bound, there is less of an incentive to buy a home before April and new home sales should moderate until the middle of next year.
| Category | JAN | DEC | NOV | OCT | SEP |
| Total Sales | 309K | 348K | 362K | 400K | 391K |
| Inventory (months) | 9.1 | 8.0 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 7.7 |
| Median Price Y/Y | -2.4% | -6.1% | -1.1% | 0.9% | -3.8% |