As new home sales cool off, prices heat up again

Sales of new single-family homes retreated in January, according to the latest Monthly New Residential Sales report, released this morning by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

January 2022 sales fell 4.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 801,000 from the revised December rate of 839,000. The latest figure is also a 19.3% drop from the January 2021 estimate of 993,000.

The median sales price for new homes sold during the month was $423,300, jumping 7% from the December 2021 median price of $395,500.

Additionally, the average sales price of $496,600 for January is a 3% increase from the December 2021 average price of $482,300.

The seasonally‐adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 406,000, representing a 6.1-month supply at the current sales rate. This represents a supply of 6.1 months at the current sales rate compared to a 5.6-month supply in the prior month.

Regionally, on a month-over-month basis, sales in the Northeast decreased 10.7%, sales in the Midwest fell 3.7%, sales in the South declined 7.4%, and sales in the West were up 3%.

On a year-over-year basis, the dropoff in sales was much more drastic. Sales in the Northeast plummeted by 46.8%, sales in the Midwest dropped 37.1%, sales in the South declined 23.8%, with sales in the West soaring upward by 34.4%.

Last week,  the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that total existing-home sales increased 6.7% to a seasonally adjusted rate of 6.50 million.