Purchases of new homes in the U.S. last month fell 0.6 percent to an annual pace of 356,000, down 31 percent from March 2008 and down almost 75 percent from a record pace of 1,389,000 in July 2005. In a show of relative strength (and seasonality), sales in the west increased 15 percent on a month over month basis.
With respect to existing home sales:
A report from the National Association of Realtors yesterday showed purchases of existing homes in March fell 3 percent to an annual rate of 4.57 million. The median price slumped 12 percent from a year earlier, and distressed properties accounted for about 50 percent of all sales.
Mounting foreclosures have drawn more buyers to the existing-home market. New-home sales now make up about 7 percent of the total market, down from about 16 percent at the peak of the housing bubble in mid-2005.
UPDATE: In response to a reader’s comment with respect to new home activity in San Francisco, we offer the following proxy (and perspective). The delta between listed and recorded sales in March 2008: 190. The delta between listed and recorded sales in March 2009: 94. And the year over year change: a 50 percent drop.
∙ Sales of U.S. New Homes in March Exceeded Forecast [Bloomberg]
∙ San Francisco Recorded Sales Activity In March: Down 34.6% YOY [SocketSite]
What about San Francisco?
Paul — here are SF’s numbers for March, much worse than the national figures:
http://www.rereport.com/sf/
[Editor’s Note: Keep in mind “rereport” only counts listed sales which doesn’t accurately reflect new home activity. A more accurate measure of the overall San Francisco market: San Francisco Recorded Sales Activity In March: Down 34.6% YOY. And better yet, the delta between listed and recorded sales in San Francsico as a proxy for new home activity: 190 in March 2008, 94 in March 2009 – a year over year drop of 50 percent.]
reported national numbers statistically insigificant vs. wall street expectations, especially given likely revisions.
Ahh, thanks for the clarification on “new” vs. “resale” data. I didn’t realize Paul was looking for info on new sales. Odd that there is no way to get solely new home sale numbers other than taking DQ total sale numbers and subtracting MLS resale numbers (imperfect because some new sales are sold via the MLS). Given that all this info is public, it sure is hard to dig up . . .
Why does the yoy diff between listed and recorded sales mean anything?
What I mean was, you mention the delta went from 190 to 94, a 50% drop. But, that could imply listings dropping 50% and purchases staying flat, or the opposite, or both dropping a bit, or one dropping a lot and the other raising a bit. That stat alone, 190->94, doesn’t say much.
lolcat, the terminology is confusing. What the editor has done is take the total sales of all homes, new and resales, as reported by Dataquick, and subtract the MLS data on just MLS-listed sales (which are nearly all resales). The “delta,” or difference, is basically the number of new home sales. Using this (imperfect but the best we have) measure, the number of new homes sold dropped from 190 to 94 YOY.