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New home sales came in weak once again in November, further underlining the market's shakiness heading into 2015. Sales of newly built single-family properties fell 1.6 percent month-over-month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 438,000 in November, according to a report from the Commerce Department. New home sales have been weak throughout all of 2014, despite upward trends in consumer confidence and declining mortgage interest rates in the last few months. One of the top reasons cited by experts for housing's decline this year is the ongoing tight credit environment, which commentators say has locked out all but the highest-profile mortgage applicants.
Month-to-month, new home sales were down in all regions except the West, which posted a nearly 15 percent gain to a rate of 124,000. Sales were down 12 percent in the Northeast, 6.3 percent in the Midwest, and 6.4 percent in the South. Year-over-year, sales were up in the Midwest and West, falling by 4 percent in the South and a dramatic 33 percent in the Northeast.
Meanwhile, a new forecast of existing-home sales for the month of December has projected activity rising but still finishing the year on a low note after a weaker than expected November. In its latest Nowcast projections, online real estate auction company Auction.com calls for pre-owned home sales to fall between seasonally adjusted annual rates of 4.79 and 5.18 million for December, with a targeted number of 4.98 million. The company's forecast comes just one day after the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing-home sales in November were at an adjusted annual rate of just 4.93 million. If Auction.com's forecast holds out, December sales will come in more than 2 percent above year-end 2013, marking the third straight month of annual improvement.
