New Home Sales Warm Up in February

Shaking off a weather-related downturn in January, sales of new single-family homes increased 9.4% in January to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.226 million units, the U.S. Commerce Department reported last week.

“Builders expected single-family home sales to remain strong,” said NAHB President David Wilson. “In our regular monthly survey of single-family home builders, they indicated that they were solidly optimistic about the coming months, and the latest Commerce Department figures reinforce that optimism.”

“We expected a late-winter rebound,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “Demand still outstrips supply in many areas, and buyer demand continues to be driven by favorable market fundamentals ― growing employment and household income, new household formations and historically low mortgage rates.”

“Even though mortgage rates have moved up in recent weeks, financing conditions remain quite favorable, and the drive toward homeownership remains strong,” Seiders added. “People want to live in their own homes, and they regard homeownership as a solid investment, as well,” Seiders added.

Home sales were up in every region of the country in February, climbing 20.3% in the Northeast, 9.9% in the Midwest, 9.0% in the South and 7.4% in the West.

The inventory of new homes for sale was 444,000, a 4.4 months’ supply at the February sales pace. “The inventory situation is very manageable,” Seiders noted. “It includes a large number of units permitted but not yet started, which is not a problem for builders.”

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