ARLINGTON, Va. — NAFCU's Macro Flash Report noted that new homes sales declined for the third month in a row.
Annualized, the figure was down 2.8% from 605,000 units to 588,000 units in January, the slowest pace since February 1995. Sales were down 33.9% from a year ago.
Out West, the view was not quite as gloomy. The West experienced a modest uptick in new home sales, 2.2%, and was the only region that did not drop. On the other hand, the Northeast experienced the greatest month-to-month drop in new home sales at 10.3% for the month of January.
Year-over-year, new home sales were down in all four regions, with the biggest decline at 56% in the Midwest.
The inventory level increased 4.2% from 9.5 months of supply in December to 9.9 months of supply in January. Meanwhile, the number of unsold homes decreased by 2.2% to 482,000 units.
The median new home price, non-seasonally adjusted, decreased to $216,000 in January, down 4.3% from December and 15.1% from a year ago.
"The housing market will continue to weigh on the economy throughout this year, but the recent aggressive rate cuts by the Federal Reserve combined with the fiscal stimulus package should give a boost to the economy during the second half of this year," NAFCU reported.
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