The seasonally adjusted annual pace of new single-family home sales in the U.S. rebounded 18 percent last month, from an upwardly revised pace of 427,000 in July to 504,000 in August, the strongest pace since May 2008 and 33 percent higher on a year-over-year basis.
That being said, the pace of new single-family home sales as measured in August has averaged 653,000 over the past 50 years and peaked at 1,255,000 in 2005.
Leading the charge last month, the pace of new home sales in the West jumped 50 percent from July to August and is running 84 percent higher on a year-over-year basis.
And in terms of inventory, the number of new single-family homes for sale in the U.S. is currently running 16.0 percent higher on a year-over-year basis, with the greatest number of new homes on the market (203,000) since late 2010 but 55 percent fewer than in early 2008.