New Home Sales Disappoint
New Home Sales (February 2012)
– New Home Sales 313,000 (annualized), Previous was 318,000.
– Down 1.6% from last month, up 11.4% from year ago
– Sales have fallen nearly 7% since December
– A healthy market is considered 700k new home sales or better
Builder confidence has risen, the media talks up the health of the recovery but folks ain’t buying. This marks two consecutive months of decline in New Home Sales.
I would guess that the large inventory of not-too-old foreclosed homes is an attractive alternative to potential buyers.
The building of new homes is an important driver of jobs. The jobs market cannot breakout until Housing Starts reach their natural level of about 1,500,000/year, about double the current level.
Here are New Home Sales vs. Mortgage Rates and New Home Sales vs. Builder Confidence:
