By Jacob Passy
Getty Images
The numbers: Sales of newly-constructed homes in the U.S. sank 15.4% on a monthly basis in March to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 627,000, the government reported Tuesday .
Compared with March 2019, new-home sales were down 9.5%.
Because of the small sample size used to produce to new-home sales report, it is prone to significant revisions. February’s new-home sales figured was revised downward to a rate of 741,000.
What happened: The national downturn in new-home sales was led by a 41.5% drop in sales activity in the Northeast and a 38.5% drop in the West, likely a reflection of the larger number of COVID-19 cases these two regions have seen. New York has been the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. Nevertheless, sales also fell in the Midwest (down 8.1%) and the South (down 0.8%).
The median sales price of new homes sold in March was $321,400. The inventory of new homes for sale rose to 333,000, representing a 6.4 months’ supply.
The big picture: While the decrease in new home sales was more pronounced than the drop in March existing-home sales reported earlier this week, the discrepancy is actually a reflection of the data used to produce the two reports.
“Because new home sales are based on contract signings, an early step in the home buying process, they showed a larger decline than existing home sales data, which came out earlier this week,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. The March existing-home sales data largely reflected transactions where contracts were signed back in February or even January.
Nevertheless, the two reports tell a similar story: Buyers have grown nervous about purchasing a home right now because of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic downturn.
And signs suggest that April won’t be much better for the new-home market. A survey of 65 private mid-size regional home builders conducted by financial services firm BTIG during the week of April 20 found that 85% of builders reported a slower-than-normal sales pace.
There is one silver lining for the housing industry. The 6.4-month supply of new homes could be enticing to consumers still shopping for a home to buy. “Home buyers still in the market for a home might take a fresh look at new homes in the months ahead,” Hale said.
What they’re saying: “Builders are still facing a difficult sales and traffic environment, but cancellation data suggests that buyers under contract are still generally moving towards closing,” the BTIG analysts wrote.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average /zigman2/quotes/210598065/realtime DJIA +0.43% and the S&P 500 /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX +0.37% both rebounded in Thursday morning trading on the hopes of another congressional stimulus package being passed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note /zigman2/quotes/211347051/realtime BX:TMUBMUSD10Y +0.48% however was down slightly.
Shares of home-building firms PulteGroup /zigman2/quotes/201694804/composite PHM +1.99% , LGI Homes /zigman2/quotes/202461766/composite LGIH +2.44% , and Lennar Corp. /zigman2/quotes/202536373/composite LEN +2.36% all rose Thursday morning.
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