A joint report released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) show sales of new single-family homes in January 2010 fell by 11.2 percent (since December 2009) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 309,000. The January 2010 rate also reflects a 6.1 percent lower sales rate than the year before when the sales during January 2009 reflected a rate of 329,000.
For more in-depth analysis on this topic, check out this post by Chief Economist Cameron Findlay.
The joint statement also reports the median sales price of new houses sold in January 2010 to be $203,500, which while lower than the previous year’s median price, suggests a slower rate of decline than in previous months. This trend is confirmed by the recent release of the Case-Shiller index which is a leading indicator of home value in 20 major metropolitan markets across the US.
On a more positive note, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 234,000, which represents a supply of 9.1 months at the current sales rate. This is a decrease in the amount of supply since January 2009 where the housing supply was estimated at 11 months.
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