New Home Sales Decrease to 716,000 Annual Rate in August

Median New Home Price is Down 9% from the Peak

The Census Bureau reported New Home Sales in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 716 thousand. The previous three months were revised up.

Sales of new single-family houses in August 2024 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 716,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 4.7 percent below the revised July rate of 751,000, but is 9.8 percent above the August 2023 estimate of 652,000.
emphasis added

The first graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions since 1963. The dashed line is the current sales rate.

New home sales were at pre-pandemic levels. The second graph shows New Home Months of Supply.

The months of supply increased in August to 7.8 months from 7.3 months in July. The all-time record high was 12.2 months of supply in January 2009. The all-time record low was 3.3 months in August 2020. This is above the top of the normal range (about 4 to 6 months of supply is normal).

"The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 467,000. This represents a supply of 7.8 months at the current sales rate."

On inventory, according to the Census Bureau:

"A house is considered for sale when a permit to build has been issued in permit-issuing places or work has begun on the footings or foundation in nonpermit areas and a sales contract has not been signed nor a deposit accepted."

Starting in 1973 the Census Bureau broke this down into three categories: Not Started, Under Construction, and Completed. The third graph shows the three categories of inventory starting in 1973.

The inventory of completed homes for sale (red) - at 105 thousand - is more than triple the record low of 31 thousand in February 2022. This is the most since 2009, but still close to the normal level of completed homes for sale.

The inventory of homes under construction (blue) at 260 thousand is very high but is about 18% below the cycle peak in July 2022. The inventory of homes not started is at 102 thousand - this is the all-time high.

The fourth graph shows new home sales for each month, Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA), for a few selected periods. Black is the maximum sales per month during the bubble (2005) and light gray is the minimum sales during the bust (2008 - 2011). The most recent six years are shown (2019 through 2024).

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