ARLINGTON, Va.—New home sales increased 16.9% in November, far ahead of how 2018 is expected to finish overall, according to newly released data.
"New home sales data are traditionally noisy, and despite the healthy increase in November, the sales trend remains fairly flat," said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long. With one data point remaining, sales are currently on pace to end 2018 up by 2% over all of 2017.”
"The main constraints are still declining affordability in the face of rising mortgage rates and supply shortages," Long added.
Sales increased in three of the four regions in November. Sales in the small and volatile Northeast doubled, followed by gains in the Midwest (+30.5%) and the South (+20.6%). Sales in the West region declined 5.9%.
Based on current month sales, there were six months of supply in November, down from seven months in October. The number of unsold homes left on the market rose from 328,000 to 330,000 units. This represents a 14.2% increase from a year ago, observed Long.
The median new home price, non-seasonally adjusted, decreased from $325,100 in October to $302,400 in November. November's prices were 11.9% lower than a year ago.