Economists missed the mark badly on new home sales estimates. And over half of last month's surge was revised away.
Economists expected 668,000 new homes would be sold in June. Instead, home sales fell 5.3% from a huge downward revision in May.
The initial report for May was 689,000. The revised number is 666,000. Thus, May's reported 6.7% rise was 3.1%. But recall the jump in May was from a revised lower April.
A quick check of the Census Bureau New Residential Construction Reportshows April was revised lower again today, from 646,00 to 641,000. The Census Bureau also revised March so taker all of the previous reported percentages with a heavy dose of skepticism.
Median and Average Sales Price Declines
Mortgage News Daily reports both median and average sales prices were down for the second straight month. The median price was 2,100 compared to 5,200 in June 2017. The respective average prices were 3,300 and 0,600.
Econoday Parrot Located
I located the Econoday parrot. He is alive and well on a new Econoday page.
Those of you expecting the parrot would find good news in this report will not be disappointed.
New home sales unfortunately join the host of housing data showing weakness. Sales fell 5.3 percent in June to a 631,000 annualized rate vs Econoday's consensus for 668,000. The disappointment comes despite price concessions as the median fell a monthly 2.5 percent to 2,100. Year-on-year, the median is down 4.2 percent vs a 2.4 percent rise for sales.
But good news comes from supply which rose 1.7 percent to 301,000 new homes on the market. Relative to sales, supply is at 5.7 months vs 5.3 and 5.6 months in the prior two months.
Good News?
Supply is up because sales are down yet builders keep building on spec anyway. Supposedly that is "good news".
Existing home sales appear to have peaked this cycle. New home sales my have joined the parade. For now, the year-over-year trend is still positive.
Related Articles
Today's report adds one more bullet point that housing has peaked this cycle.
