16-Month High for New-Home Sales

According to the Department of Commerce, sales of new homes were up 4.5 percent month-over-month in March at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 692,000.

March matched November 2017's sales pace, and posted 3 percent annual growth. According to MarketWatch analysis, softer home prices helped boost sales: the median sold price in march was down 9.7 percent year-over-year at $302,700. At the current sales pace, the market is considered balanced between supply and demand, with six months of available housing stock.

Because the government’s data on new residential construction and sales is based on small sample sizes, it is often heavily revised, and economists prefer to look at several months’ worth of data to discern trends. For the year to date, sales are running just a hair – 1.7 percent – stronger than the same period last year. In March, the Commerce Department revised down several prior months’ sales estimates.

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