Tag Archives: New Home Sales

The continued—and oddly sluggish—recovery cycle the U.S is currently experiencing in not, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings and Oxford Analytica, on course to run the typical peaks-and-valleys cycle of the five major economic expansion periods the U.S. has experienced since the early 1970s.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Monday a 5 percent month-over-month increase in new home purchase applications. The increase is the lowest so far this year, following gains of 15 percent in March, 12 percent in February, and 27 percent in January. Based on application volumes and other market considerations, the group estimates new single-family sales ran at a seasonally adjusted yearly pace of 419,000 last month.

In a survey of more than 2,000 adults, Trulia found an estimated 41 percent “would strongly or somewhat prefer” to buy a new single-family home over an existing one, assuming the prices were equal. Just more than one in five respondents—21 percent—said they would prefer an existing home, while 38 percent expressed no preference. Of course, while the survey set prices on a level field to gauge interest, that’s very rarely the case.

The pace of new home sales plunged in March to their lowest level in eight months, driving down hopes of a seasonal renewal in housing activity. Monthly data released Wednesday by HUD and the Census Bureau shows sales of new homes last month plummeting 14.5 percent from February to an estimated seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 384,000. The last time transactions ran so low was last July, when they came to 383,000.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released Tuesday its Builder Application Survey for last month, with data showing a 15 percent month-over-month increase in new home purchase applications. Using application from the survey and other market assumptions, MBA estimates sales of new single-family homes in March ran at an adjusted annualized rate of 479,000 units, a decrease of 10.1 percent from February’s anticipated pace of 533,000.

According to reports released Tuesday by the Census Bureau and HUD, new home sales in February ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 440,000, down 3.3 percent from the revised January rate of 455,000 (originally recorded at 468,000). It was the weakest sales pace since September 2013. Compared to February 2013, last month’s sales rate was down by about 5,000 (1.1 percent).

Builder application data from February suggests another increase in new home sales, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Thursday. According to MBA’s Builder Applications Survey (BAS), which tracks application volume from mortgage subsidiaries of homebuilders, applications for new home purchases increased 12 percent in February, pointing to a seasonally adjusted annual sales rate of 533,000 (up 1 percent from January).

On Thursday afternoon, MReport hosted its first-ever Live Twitter Chat, in which industry experts answer questions from all comers. Joining us for the first session was Rick Sharga, EVP for Auction.com and one of the preeminent voices in the housing industry today. In case you weren't able to make it, we recapped just a few of the topics tackled in the discussion.

According to estimates released Wednesday by the Census Bureau and HUD, new single-family homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 468,000, up 9.6 percent from December’s upwardly revised rate of 427,000. Compared to last year, January sales increased 2.2 percent. The overall increase should come as welcome news to a market in slowdown.