Nationwide, sales of new homes increased 1.3% on a monthly basis and up 8.9% year-over-year, reaching an annual rate of 307,000.
Should October’s increase in sales prove accurate, the gains will have come at the cost of prices.
Both average and median new-home sales prices were down on a monthly basis, with the median down $1,000 from September to $212,300 and the average down 2.5% to $242,300.
The average price was down 4.8% on an annual basis, but the median price was up 4.0%, a disparity David Goldberg, home building economist at New York-based UBS, attributes to skewed numbers due to last year’s tax credit, which pulled sales toward the first part of the year.
Also, a shift in demographics contributed, with a larger percentage of sales coming from the West while the South’s percentage is shrinking.
By sales price, home costing under $150,000 gained market share, increasing from 16% of sales in September to 24% in October.
Other price categories dropped with the exception of an increase at the high end of the market, with homes priced at over $750,000 increasing from 1% to 2% of sales.
The number of new homes for sale remained flat at 162,000, while completed homes for sale dropped by 1,000 to 60,000.
Total new-home inventory decreased to a 6.3-month supply.
Source: builderonline.com