Data Show New-Home Sales Growth With Caveat

The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that U.S. new-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual 657,000 rate in November 2018, an eight-month high.

The report release was delayed by the partial government shutdown, and has a 20 percent margin of error; typically these federal reports are subject to major revision as they use a small sample size, MarketWatch reports. Sales of new homes grew 17 percent month-over-month, and surpassed expert forecasts. Annually, new-home sales grew 2.7 percent.

In November, sales were 7.7 percent lower than a year ago. The median sales price was $302,400, 12 percent lower than year-ago levels, a factor that probably helped boost sales. And there were precisely 6.0 months’ worth of inventory, the exact measure that has generally determined a market evenly balanced between supply and demand.

Read more