According to the latest figures from HUD and the U.S. Census Bureau, sales of new homes increased in January by 28.9% from a year ago, and 15.6% since December. On an annual seasonally-adjusted basis, newly built, single-family homes sold at a 437,000 pace. New home sales increased in every region. The West had the biggest gain at 45.3%. The Northeast posted a 27.6% increase, and the Midwest saw an increase of 11.1%. The South had the lowest increase (3.2%).
The inventory of new homes for sale remained at 150,000 units in January. This represents a 4.1 months’ supply at the current sales pace. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), this is the smallest months’ supply since March of 2005.
In addition, only 43,000 of the existing home inventory are completed and ready to be occupied. In a typical year, the current US competed supply would be a normal year’s sale volume in a single large metropolitan area.
