Sellings of new U.S. single-family homes unexpectedly fell for a third straight month in February, weighed down by immerse declines in the Midwest and West.
The Commerce Department said on Friday new cosy sales dropped 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual velocity of 618,000 units last month. January’s sales pace was alt up to 622,000 units from the previously reported 593,000 units.
Economists tallied by Reuters had forecast that new home sales, which account for 10 percent of lodgings market sales, would rise 4.4 percent to a pace of 623,000 segments last month. New home sales are drawn from permits and verge to be volatile on a month-to-month basis.
They rose 0.5 percent from a year ago. Tag sales decreased 3.7 percent in the Midwest and 17.6 percent in the West, which has on the ball rapid price growth amid a shortage of homes for sale. They rebounded 19.4 percent in the Northeast and 9.0 percent in the South, which accounts for the volume of new home sales.
The housing market has slowed in recent months as an keen shortage of homes, especially on the lower end of the market, squeezes sales while denying up prices. Rising mortgage rates could make buying a expert in even less affordable for first-time buyers, who have been mostly priced out of the market.
The median new house price was $326,800, a 9.7 percent escalation from a year ago. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate is hovering at a four-year gamy of 4.45 percent, according to mortgage finance agency Freddie Mac. In distinction, annual wage growth has been stuck below 3 percent in the face the unemployment rate dropping to a 17-year low of 4.1 percent.
In February, there were 305,000 new composes on the market, an increase of 2.0 percent and the highest level since Parade 2009. The stock of new homes still remains well below its culmination during the housing market bubble in 2006.
At February’s sales pace it wish take 5.9 months to clear the supply of houses on the market, the sundry since August 2017 and up from 5.8 months in January. Near two-thirds of the houses sold last month were either beneath construction or yet to be built