Nation's Building News Online

With 9.4% Increase in August, New Home Sales Barreling Towards Another Record Year

Continuing at a fast clip, sales of new single-family homes increased 9.4% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.184 million units, the U.S. Commerce Department reported.

“Single-family home sales continue to remain strong well into the third quarter of the year,” said NAHB President Bobby Rayburn. “Builders across the country remain upbeat about the housing market.”

“The fundamentals supporting the new-home market still are quite strong,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “Long-term mortgage rates are running below 6%, one-year adjustable-rate loans are around 4% and both job and income growth have strengthened. Under these conditions, new-home sales are definitely heading toward another record in 2004.”

The pace of new home sales in August was running a slight 0.4% below the level of a year earlier, but so far this year sales are up 10.8%.

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The inventory of unsold new homes increased slightly to 404,000 units in August, but the month’s supply was 4.2, down slightly from the month before.

Existing Sales Down 2.7% in August

Sales of existing single-family homes slipped 2.7% in August to 6.54 million, the National Association of Realtors® reported, but they were at the sixth highest level ever.

The association’s chief economist, David Lereah, said that he expected to see further declines later this year and that total resales in 2004 should be roughly the level reached last month.

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Get the latest forecasts on housing starts, project budgets and other economic bellwethers of the housing industry at NAHB's Fall Construction Forecast Conference at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 27. Click here for more information and to register.

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