New home sales edge lower in September as prices cool off
The report landed the same morning as the Case-Shiller and FHFA home price indexes, which showed overall home prices up 2.1% and 2.4% from a year ago.
Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American, noted that builders were leaning on price cuts and incentives to battle the higher rate environment.
“New-home sales were essentially unchanged in September, holding up better than expected even as mortgage rates rose,” Kushi said. “Builders are meeting buyers’ budgets with price cuts, financing incentives and smaller, more affordable homes. That is helping sustain sales, but it also shows how hard builders are working to keep buyers engaged.”
Supply holds near eight months
New houses for sale numbered 476,000 at the end of September, down 1.0% from 481,000 in August and 2.3% from 487,000 a year earlier. That is a supply of 8.4 months at the current sales pace, compared with 8.5 months in August and 8.2 months a year ago.
Completed homes for sale fell to 111,000 from 122,000 a year earlier, while 250,000 were under construction and 115,000 had not started.
