March sales of new single-family homes surged by an unexpectedly strong 12.2% to an all-time high seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.43 million units, according to Commerce Department figures released on April 26.
“This surprisingly good number shows there’s still plenty of demand in today’s new-home marketplace,” said NAHB President Dave Wilson. “It may be that higher mortgage rates pushed more fence-sitters to go for it last month, which often happens when further rate gains are expected.”
Sales in March climbed 22% in the Midwest, 13.8% in the South and 10% in the West. They declined by 9% in the Northeast.
“The strength of this market continues to surprise most experts, and March’s big acceleration in new-home sales was both unexpected and unaccounted for by our own builder surveys and other market signals,” acknowledged NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. The number of new homes for sale fell about 1% in March, to a relatively thin 3.6 months’ supply at the current sales pace.
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