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New Single-Family Home Sales Edge Up in October
New single-family home sales edged up 1.7% in October following a dramatic downward revision to the preliminary estimate of sales for September, the U.S. Commerce Department reported on Nov. 29. October’s seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 728,000 units was 23.5% below a year earlier.
“The progressive tightening of mortgage lending conditions during 2007 has been the major factor behind the setback in home sales this year,” said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. “NAHB expects home sales to begin a gradual recovery in the early part of 2008.”
“For this pattern to materialize, the U.S. economy must avoid recession and conditions in the mortgage finance system must improve. We are looking to the Federal Reserve to implement at least two more cuts in short-term interest rates to ensure that those conditions are met,” Seiders said.
The regional patterns of new-home sales in October were mixed, with sales up 14.2% in the Midwest, 6.8% in the South and 1.8% in the Northeast, but down 15.7% in the West. All regions but the Northeast were down substantially on a year-over-year basis.
The inventory of new homes for sale in October was down 2.3% to 516,000 units as builders continued to work down their inventory. The equivalent months’ supply at the October sales pace edged down to 8.5 months from 9.0 months in September.
Completed homes for sale comprised about 37% of the inventory, units still under construction represented almost 49% and units for-sale that were permitted but not yet started accounted for more than 14% of the inventory level.
The median length of time that completed homes were on the market was 5.9 months in October, up slightly from 5.8 months in September.
Webcast of NAHB Fall Construction Forecast Available Till Feb. 5
The webcast of the NAHB Fall Construction Forecast Conference held in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 24. is available for purchase through Feb. 5.
The conference webcast includes panels of nationally recognized experts discussing economic trends, government policies, developments in the housing industry and the results from NAHB's recent surveys.
Purchasers will receive unlimited access to the webcast archive though Feb. 5, as well as electronic copies of the conference handouts and presentation material. Purchasers can watch at their own pace, rewind, fast forward and review important sections.
To Purchase the Webcast
To purchase the webcast, visit www.nahb.org/cfcwebcast.
For more information, contact Kate Carrigan at NAHB, or call her at 800-369-5242 x8244.
 Want to Know the Housing Forecast for the Top 100 Metros?
Find out in HousingEconomic.com’s 2008 to 2009 Metro Forecast (free preview).
Get the metro forecast with in-depth analysis, overviews and downloadable Excel tables.
To learn more, visit www.HousingEconomics.com.
 Free NAHB Kit Gives Builders Back-to-Basics Tips to Navigate the Slowdown
What was once expected to be a relatively mild housing slump following three years of record new home construction and sales has given way to a significant downturn.
To help members navigate the uncharted waters of this slowdown, NAHB has compiled a comprehensive “Back to Basics” online toolkit — the best of the basics, the tried and true and the truly new. To access the toolkit, click here.
To access the “Back to Basics” toolkit, you must be an NAHB member and have a login to www.nahb.org. To create a login, go to www.nahb.org/login or click on the log-in button on the main menu bar.
For assistance, call the NAHB Member Service Center at 800-368-5242.
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