New home sales destroyed expectations with an almost double-digit jump in March, according to the latest data from the Census Bureau.
- M-O-M: Sales of new single‐family houses fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 683,000 in March, up 9.6% from February and the highest level since last March.
- Y-O-Y: New home sales were down 3.4% when compared to the same time last year.
Beat The Street. Economists were way off in March as they predicted new home sales to fall 1.0% to a rate of 623k.
South By A Mile. The South continues to dominate all other regions with 57% of all new home sales happening in the South. The West was a distant second at 24% followed by the Midwest (10%)and the Northeast (9%).
- The South held on to its top spot despite a 5.4% dip month-over-month and a 3.3% drop from last year.
- The Northeast gets the blue ribbon for the biggest month-over-month increase as sales jumped 170.8% from February.
Prices. The median sales price of a new house sold in March climbed to $449,800, up 4.0% from February and up 5.0% from the start of the year.
- Homes between 300-399k were the top seller with 29% of new home sales in March followed by $500-749k(25%) and $400-499k (23%).
- Homes under $300k made up just 10% of sales highlighting the rising cost of houses, especially new construction, across the country.