New-Home Sales Begin to Dip in September

The growth rate of newly built single-family homes has begun to slow. According to the National Association of Home Builders, the 3.5% month-over-month sales drop is a necessity. The growth rate remains strong, the association says, and the historic margin of new home sales exceeding construction desperately needed some sort of sales slowdown. September sales rates remained 32% higher than one year ago. Housing demand remains strong as mortgage rates stay low, says NAHB.

Looking back to the spring, the April data (570,000 annualized pace) marks the low point of sales for the current recession. The April rate was 26% lower than the prior peak, pre-recession rate set in January. Sales have mounted a historic growth rate since that time.

Sales-adjusted inventory levels marked a third consecutive month below a 4 months’ supply, coming in at 3.6 in September. The count of completed, ready-to-occupy new homes is just 48,000 homes nationwide.

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