New home sales surge in September

Median and average sales prices also increased compared to August

New home sales surge in September
New home sales jumped month over month in September, according to estimates released jointly by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Sales of new single-family houses during the month were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 667,000, which is 18.9% above the revised August rate of 561,000. On a year-over-year basis, the latest rate is 17% above the September 2016 estimate of 570,000.

September recorded a median sales price of new houses sold during the period of $319,700. The average sales price was $385,200. These compare to the median sales price of new houses sold in August of $300,200 and the average sales price of $368,100.

At the end of September, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 279,000, which represents a supply of 5 months at the current sales rate. At the end of August, the seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 284,000, which represents a supply of 6.1 months at the then-current sales rate.


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