Sales of new U.S. single-family homes increased more than
expected in May as sales in the South surged to their highest level in nearly
11 years.
The Commerce Department said on Monday new home sales jumped
6.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 689,000 units last month,
the highest level since November 2017. April’s sales pace was revised down to
646,000 units from the previously reported 662,000 units.
Last month’s surge in new home sales unwound April’s drop.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales, which make up 11
percent of housing market sales, rising only 0.7 percent to a pace of 667,000
units in May.
Sales in the South, which accounts for the bulk of
transactions, rebounded 17.9 percent to a rate of 409,000 units in May, the
highest level since July 2007. The increase ended two straight months of
declines.
Sales tumbled 10.0 percent in the Northeast and dropped 8.7
percent in the West. They were unchanged in the Midwest.
New home sales are drawn from permits and tend to be
volatile on a month-to-month basis. They increased 14.1 percent from a year
ago. New home sales are getting a boost from an inventory crunch in the market
for previously owned houses.
A report last week showed existing home sales falling for a
second straight month in May.
Supply has lagged strong demand for housing, which is being
driven by a robust labor market, leading to a sharp increase in home prices.
Economists say high mortgage rates so far do not appear to be dampening demand.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 4.57 percent last
week and has risen more than 50 basis points this year. Further increases are
likely after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates earlier this month for a
second time this year and forecast two more rate hikes by the end of the year.
U.S. stocks were trading sharply lower on Monday on
investor concerns about escalating tensions between the United States and its
trading partners, while prices of U.S. Treasuries rose. The dollar .DXY was
slightly weaker against a basket of currencies.
MEDIAN PRICE FALLS
The median new house price fell 3.3 percent to $313,000 in
May from a year ago. That was the lowest price in a year. The drop in new home
prices is likely to be temporary.
There were 299,000 new homes on the market in May, up 1.0
percent from April. Supply is just over half of what it was at the peak of the
housing market boom in 2006.
Builders are struggling with higher lumber prices as well
as labor and land shortages. A survey last week showed confidence among
single-family homebuilders dipped in June, with builders “increasingly
concerned that tariffs placed on Canadian lumber and other imported products
are hurting housing affordability.”
The Trump administration in April 2017 imposed anti-subsidy
duties on imports of Canadian softwood lumber.
Residential investment contracted in the first quarter and
economists expect housing will subtract again from gross domestic product in
the second quarter.
The housing market is lagging overall economic growth,
which appears to have regained speed in the second quarter after slowing at the
start of the year. Growth estimates for the April-June period are as high as a
4.7 percent annualized rate. The economy grew at a 2.2 percent pace in the
first quarter.
At May’s sales pace it would take 5.2 months to clear the
supply of houses on the market, down from 5.5 months in April. Nearly
two-thirds of the houses sold last month were either under construction or yet
to be built.
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