Sales of new single‐family houses in June were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 590,000, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 8.1% below the revised May rate of 642,000 and 17.4% below the June 2021 estimate of 714,000.
“New residential sales continued their decline so far this year, dropping 8.1% from last month, and now sit below 600,000,” says Nikolas Scoolis, manager, housing economics for Zonda. “Today's report shows that new-home sales are at the lowest level since April 2020. On a year-to-date basis, new-home sales are down 13.4% from last year as the market faces new headwinds related to affordability and confidence.”
The median sales price of new homes sold in June was $402,400, while the average sales price was $456,800.
“New-home prices also declined for the second straight month, reflecting the affordability strain in the market,” adds Scoolis. “Builders are still reporting interested buyers, but there is not enough affordable product available to convert them to sales given the huge jump in interest rates since the end of last year.”
The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale was 457,000 at the end of June, representing a 9.3-month supply at the current sales rate.
“The weak June figure, combined with the downward revisions to April and May, will likely result in a downgrade to our near-term new-home sales forecast,” says Doug Duncan, chief economist at Fannie Mae. “The reported sales pace is now roughly consistent with the level seen in late 2018, the last time the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy.”
