New-Home Sales Reach New Post-Recession High

Demand for housing is strengthening heading into the fall, as sales of newly built homes reached the highest level since early 2008 in August, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The annual rate of 552,000 was well above economists’ forecast for a rate of 515,000. Stephen Stanley, economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities, says that the latest data “point to robust momentum in new home sales.” The year-over-year increase for August is 21.6 percent.

New home sales account for about 10 percent of the home purchase market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Existing homes make up the rest.

“Our results reflect the slow but steady growth in the overall home-building market,” Lennar Chief Executive Stuart Miller said on a conference call with investors. “This year’s summer season, and the spring selling season before it, confirm that the market is continuing to improve at a fairly consistent pace.”

PB Topical Ref