New Home Sales Soar in Snow-bound Northeast

New home sales rose on a seasonally adjusted annual basis in February, partially because of a near tripling of sales in the Northeast.  Nationally sales of newly constructed single-family homes were up 7.8 percent from January to an annual rate of 539,000 units.  January sales were revised upward from 481,000 units to 500,000.  February sales were 24.8 percent higher than a year earlier when they were estimated at 432,000.

On a non-adjusted basis there were an estimated 44,000 new homes sold during the month compared to 37,000 in January and 35,000 in February 2014.  The homes sold were almost evenly divided across completed homes, homes under construction, and those for which construction had not yet begun.

Despite record snowfalls in much of the region, new home sales were up 152.9 percent in the Northeast (notably, there was a 111.2 percent margin of error), more than offsetting a 52 percent drop in January.  The universe, however, was actually quite small.  Three thousand homes sold during the month, up from 1,000 in January.  The region's sales were also 87.0 percent higher than a year earlier.

The median price of a newly constructed single-family home sold during the month was $275,500 and the average price was $341,000.  The median and average prices in February 2014 were $268,400 and $325,900 respectively.  Thirty-nine percent of homes sold during the month were in the $200-299,000 price range.

At the end of the reporting period there were an estimated 210,000 new homes available for sale, a 3.3 month supply at the current rate of sales. More than half of those homes - 110,000 - were in the process of construction.

Outside of the Northeast sales were mixed.  In the Midwest, which has also had unusually severe winter weather, new home sales were down 12.9 percent compared to January and 3.6 percent from a year earlier.  The South saw an increase in sales of 10.1 percent for the month and 22.0 percent from February 2014.  Sales dipped 1.4 percent in the West on a month-over-month basis but were 12.9 percent higher than in the previous February.