New home sales in the United States rose in September at the fastest pace since early 2022, suggesting there is still some appetite for homes despite rising mortgage rates.
Purchases of single-family homes rose 12.3% to an annualized rate of 759,000 last month, government data showed Wednesday. The figure exceeded all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The new home market has generally held firm despite high mortgage rates and home prices. While these factors risk deterring more potential buyers, the lack of listings in the resale market so far has bolstered demand for new construction.
As mortgage rates rose, homebuilder PulteGroup Inc. “responded with adjustments to products, pricing, and incentive programs that successfully address consumers’ biggest problem: affordability,” Chief Executive Ryan Marshall said Tuesday in the company’s earnings report.
The average sale price of a new home fell to $418,800, according to a report from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Despite the decrease, it is still well above pre-pandemic levels.
Figures released Wednesday showed mortgage rates hovering near 8%. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the average contract rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage jumped to 7.9% last week, pushing a measure of applications to finance a purchase to its lowest level since 1995.
The data showed that at the end of last month there were 435,000 homes for sale, the highest level since February. That represents 6.9 months of supply at the current sales pace, the lowest since the beginning of last year.
New home sales are considered a more timely barometer than existing home sales, which are calculated when contracts are closed. Those sales fell in September to their lowest level since 2010 as the market deteriorated further.
Source: Infobae.
