Sales of new single‐family houses in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 603,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 10.9% below the revised August rate of 677,000 and 17.6% below the September 2021 estimate of 732,000.
“After a brief August surge, new-home sales retreated double digits in September,” says Nik Scoolis, manager, housing economics for Zonda. “The decline corresponded with mortgage rates accelerating again after falling in August.”
The median sales price of new homes sold in September was $470,600, while the average sales price was $517,700.
“Despite the slowing sales and rising rates, prices grew again, with the median home sale price climbing to the second-highest figure in history and furthering the housing market’s affordability crunch,” adds Scoolis.
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 462,000 at the end of September, representing a 9.2-month supply at the current sales rate.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, most homes available for sale were not completed; however, a continual increase in the number of completed homes available for sale is now occurring, with the inventories of such homes now at the highest level since July 2020,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. “This suggests to us that builders may be increasingly willing to offer more aggressive incentives and discounts to maintain sales of completed inventory. If so, this would likely put further downward pressure on home prices.”
