Having dropped a revised 7.0 percent in December, the seasonally adjusted pace of new single-family home sales in the U.S. ticked up 3.7 percent in January to a pace of 535,000 annual sales, a pace which is 5.5 percent above the rate at the same time last year.
That being said, last month’s pace remains 17.6 percent below the long-term average as measured in January (649,000) and 56 percent below the record-high January pace of 1,203,000 sales as set in 2005.
At the same time, the number of new single-family homes for sale across the county ticked up 3.5 percent to 265,000, which is the most available inventory since the third quarter of 2009 and 10.9 percent higher versus the same time last year.
In the West, the pace of new single-family home sales slipped 4.4 percent from December to January but remains 16.2 percent higher versus the same time last year.