Sales of newly built single-family homes surged unexpectedly last month, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. In fact, sales were up nearly 19 percent from the month before and 17 percent over the same time last year. The increase was a surprise and far surpassed economists’ expectations, which called for a slight decline from August’s pace. All in all, any improvement in new home sales is encouraging news for the housing market. That’s because, demand for new homes spurs new residential construction, which helps alleviate upward pressure on prices by adding to the number of homes available for sale. In a competitive market, where there are more buyers than homes to buy, new home construction is among the quickest remedies for inventory shortages. However, though the gains are encouraging, new home sales data tends to be volatile from month-to-month and isn’t always reflective of the overall trend. Also in the report, the median sales price of new houses sold in September was $319,700. The average sales price was $385,200. More here.
