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Written by Ken Lee
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08.27.2009 |
New home sales as surveyed by the U.S. Census increased for the fourth consecutive month in July which further suggests that conditions in the housing market may finally be stabilizing. Seasonally-adjusted new home sales jumped 9.6% from the previous month to an annual rate of 433,000 units. This followed a 9.1% increase in new home sales just last month in June. New home sales for the previous three months were also revised higher by 34,000 units. On a year-over-year basis, new home sales are still down 13.4% from the 500,000 figure in July 2008 and 44.3% less than the July 2007 figure of 778,000. The annual pace of new home sales is now at their highest levels since September. Lower new home prices along with the expiration of the government's homebuyer tax credit approaching have sparked demand recently.
On a regional basis, July's seasonally-adjusted new home sales showed monthly increases in three out of the four regions while only one out of the four regions posted an increase from the same time last year. The Northeast was the only region to post annual and monthly increases in new home sales. New home sales in the Northeast surged 32.4% from June and are up 9.8% from July of last year. The Midwest was the only region to post a monthly decline in new home sales. Sales are down 7.6% from June and are down 4.7% from the same year-ago period. New home sales in the South increased 16.2% from last month but are down 18.4% from last July. The West reported a 1.0% increase in sales from last month but saw sales drop 14.6% from July of last year.
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