New home sales slip but more people are looking

New home sales fell 9.4% in July following an upwardly revised June reading but interest remained high

New home sales slip but more people are looking
New home sales fell 9.4% in July following an upwardly revised June reading but interest remained high.

Data from the HUD and US Census Bureau shows a seasonally adjusted rate of 571,000 units. While this was the lowest sales reading since December 2016 year-to-date sales on 9.2% above the same period of last year.

There was a 23.8% drop in single-family new home sales in the Northeast, sales fell 21.3% in the West and 4.1% in the South. The Midwest was the only region to see an increase (6.2%).

Meanwhile, a new measure of home showings nationwide reveals strong demand.

The ShowingTime Showing Index tracks more than 4 million showings each month and will eventually become a weekly index. For July, there was an increase of almost 8% year-over-year in the number of showings.

The Northeast increased 13.2%, the Midwest was up 6.7% and the South was up 4.3%. The West saw a decline of 0.8%.

"Property showing activity is a highly reliable leading indicator of current and future demand trends," said Michael Lane, President of ShowingTime. "The data from showings can be used to forecast market trends, facilitate better decision making for buyers and sellers and assist real estate professionals in identifying and capitalizing on hot spots."

Lane said the industry is hungry for data and analytics and the new index has been launched in response to demand from clients.